A busy weekend at the lake

by June 1, 2013 Environment

The heavy rains on 31st May – 1st June helped raise the water level in several parts of Puttenahalli Lake by upto about 16 inches. With this about 65-75% of the lake bed is under water. We’re waiting for a few more similar downpours to bring the level higher.

 
The Lake, 1st June 2013 (Pic: Usha Rajagopalan)

The rains also cooled the place making the gardening weekend thoroughly enjoyable for all the volunteers. Over the two mornings, starting at 7 a.m., about 50 people coming from various parts of the city, helped in digging pits, planting shrubs, cleaning (plastics and other litter) and deweeding (mostly parthenium and other weeds). Thanks to Surendran, Founder, Volunteer For a Cause (VFC), we had volunteers from as far as Kodigehalli (beyond Whitefield), Marathahalli, BTM Layout, Banasankari, JP Nagar, in addition to friends from the lake neighbourhood. Several children who came with their parents got a live lesson in nature conservation. Together they managed to plant the 300+ butterfly attracting plants such as Hamelia patens, powder puff, ixora, cup & saucer, nerium oleander, plumbago and lantana that PNLIT had procured. These shrubs, planted adjacent to the water body will be maintained to a height of about 3 feet in order to deter people from entering the water.

 

Volunteers at work, 1st & 2nd June 2013 (Pics: Usha Rajagopalan) 

With many of the volunteers asking for more work at the lake, we intend to have another planting session next weekend, weather permitting. Watch this space. 

⊕

Sections:

About Arathi Manay Yajaman

Arathi is a market researcher who loves to run and write. She has been actively involved in issues that affect citizens, including apartment management, waste management and lakes. She used to live in Mumbai and is now based in Bengaluru, working as a Community Anchor with Citizen Matters.
Read more by Arathi Manay Yajaman

Comments:

  1. markjoseph5140@gmail.com says:
    June 3, 2013 at 7:41 am

    Great work

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Mumbai floods once again. Will BMC’s climate budget help?

by July 25, 2024 Environment
Experts say that BMC's recently launched climate budget needs to be more focused on urban flooding to be able to protect vulnerable citizens.

On July 8th, rains lashed Mumbai, disrupting regular life and causing waterlogging and floods in low-lying areas and on important routes. Central Railway officials mention that almost 900 train services were cancelled leaving several commuters stranded, while many BEST buses were diverted. Since then several incidents of heavy rains and flooding have been reported in the city. Commuters, civic activists and residents have questioned the claims made by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about being prepared for the monsoons.  “The half-constructed, newly-built DP road number 9 in Chandivali was waterlogged, which caused inconvenience to commuters,” said Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder…

Continue reading

Similar Story

Mumbaikars get a taste of Murbad’s forest food and tribal culture

by July 11, 2024 Environment
It was a treat for city dwellers to learn about wild vegetables and other forest foods harvested by tribal communities of Murbad, near Mumbai.

Throughout the year, vegetable shops and markets are stocked with select vegetables and produce that form our diets. This produce is grown in large scale farms and sold across the country despite geographic and seasonal variations. But 23rd June was an aberration for some of us, who spent time at the Hirvya Devachi Yatra. We got in touch with forest foods that grow in the wild, people who harvest them and make delicacies out of these.  The Hirvya Devachi Yatra was organised this year by the Shramik Mukti Sanghatana, Van Niketan, Ashwamedh Pratisthan and INTACH Thane Chapter. It has been…

Continue reading