The scenic beauty of the Vembanad Lake, though not a strange detail for the denizens of Alappuzha, has always been a visual treat. And now, on Monday and Tuesday, the same will be on display in the form of photographs at an exhibition at the Punnapra-Vayalar Smaraka Hall behind the Toddy Tappers Union Office on the Boat Jetty Road here.

The exhibition has on display selected photographs from the 185 entries that came in from 55 persons for a photography contest, organized by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in association with the Alappuzha Press Club, and which was based on life on the Vembanad Lake.

Titled ‘Athijeevanam’, the exhibition has pictures on the daily life of people who depend on the ecologically fragile lake for a livelihood, the perennial shortage of drinking water in the water-logged Kuttanad region where the lake lies, the callousness of some who illegally dredge sand and molluscs from the lake apart from dumping garbage into the lake, agriculture, fishing, landscape, tourism, boat races and floods as well.

For the prizes, which were declared on Monday, Shaji Cherthala won the first prize entailing a cash prize of Rs.5,000, while the second prize with a cash award of Rs.3,000 went to Zachariah Ponkunnam. The third prize of Rs.1,500 went to K.J. Vincent. Five consolation prizes of Rs.500 each were given to Shaji Daylight, Shoji Davis, R. Rathinlal, Biju Mathew and Biju George.

The exhibition will continue till 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

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