Citizen trust to maintain Puttenahalli Lake

by May 17, 2011 Environment

Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust becomes the first residents group in Bengaluru to take charge of maintaining a lake.

Official note sent by the Puttenahalli Lake Trust to members and citizen volunteers.

The lake then, as on Jan 2009. Pic courtesy: PNLIT

We are happy to tell you that our Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) has signed an MOU yesterday with the BBMP to maintain Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar. This gives official status to what most of you would know PNLIT has been doing ever since the BBMP began rejuvenating the lake from Feb. 2010. 

Your donations helped us plant 300 trees, hire a gardener and a sweeper. We greatly appreciate your support to a citizens’ movement which began in a very small way to save the lake over three years ago (see photographs attached) to now reach this point of formal recognition of our effort. 

You may also be interested to know that ours is the only lake in Bangalore to be managed by a residents’ group.

Ours being a people’s initiative, the challenge is even more formidable but not impossible. It only requires a little participation from you as residents in the locality to do your bit – go for walks around the lake. If you see someone throwing down rubbish or breaking off a sapling, stop them. If you are a regular walker, join us as a volunteer to supervise the sweeper, gardener and security guards.

The lake now, as on May 2011. Pic courtesy: PNLIT

Individual contributions and corporate donations to PNLIT will go towards cleaning the lake and its surroundings, planting more saplings, maintaining the garden around, securing the lake, feeding inlets to drain water into the lake, upkeep of the toilets, providing drinking water and lots of other things… as we go along. We have received the status of Charitable Trust from the IT Dept and expect to get 80G exemption very soon.

At present, ours is a seven member team with individual personal and professional commitments and need all the help we can get from you to fully transform the once shrinking threatened lake, the only one in our locality, into a haven for birds, butterflies and fish. We have already come a long way, the rest of the journey will not be difficult with your help. ⊕

Sections:

About Usha Rajagopalan

The author is a trustee of PNLIT.
Read more by Usha Rajagopalan

Comments:

  1. Usha Srinath says:
    May 19, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    Way to go, PNLIT. very impressive. You know these kind of partnerships (BBMP with residents groups) is pretty rare. How do we get in touch with you?

    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

Panje wetlands: Greens continue their fight against all odds

by December 16, 2024 Environment
Despite a long struggle by environmentalists, the Panje wetlands in Uran are drying up. A look at the reasons for this and what activists face.

“Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke, koi sarhad na inhe roke…”  (Birds can fly where they want/ water can take its course/ the wind blows in every direction/ no barrier can stop them) — thus go the Javed Akhtar penned lyrics of the song from the movie Refugee (2000, J. P Dutta). As I read about the Panje wetlands in Uran, I wondered if these lyrics hold true today, when human interference is wreaking such havoc on natural environments, and keeping these very elements out. But then, I also wondered if I should refer to Panje, a 289-hectare inter-tidal zone, as…

Continue reading

Similar Story

Bengaluru’s climate challenge: How the city can reduce its carbon footprint

by December 13, 2024 Environment
Bengaluru's high carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by promoting public transport in the city and enhancing energy efficiency.

Global carbon dioxide emissions continue to soar despite climate agreements like Kyoto and Paris. Should this be the path we tread? Since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, annual carbon dioxide emissions have surged by an average of 1.7%. This is in stark contrast to the 0.9% increase seen in the seven years prior (1990-1997) to the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. The exclusion of the world's biggest polluters — United States, China and India — is the primary cause of the failure of the Kyoto Agreement. Vehicular emissions contribute significantly to air pollution in Bengaluru. Pic: Jyothi Gupta…

Continue reading