Articles by Arathi Manay Yajaman

The fourth Kere Habba (Lake Festival) of 2015 is all set to take place at Chellakere Lake, HRBR Layout 2nd Block, (behind the Hennur Police Station) on Saturday, 23rd May 2015, 7:30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. Kere Habba is an initiative of The Namma Bengaluru Foundation. Reports/information about the previous three Kere Habbas can be seen on these links - Kere Habba at Kaikondrahalli Lake, Puttenahalli Kere Habba, Madiwala Kere Habba.   The event is being organised to create an awareness of the beautiful 40-acre lake among the people residing in the area. According to people who are working to restore the…

PNLIT is happy to inform you that we are one of the winners of Earth Day Network-India's शहर GREEN करो - It’s Our Turn to Lead Contest. The result was announced today. The other winners are from Kozhikode, Mumbai, Srinagar, Varanasi and can be seen on the Earth Day Network-India Facebook page here. Details about PNLIT's entry can be seen on the Green Cities India Facebook page here. To commemorate the 45th anniversary of Earth Day (celebrated on 22nd April) this year, Earth Day Network-India, in February, had called for entries from 45 cities on how to make their cities "Swachh" and "Green". Each of…

On 13th April, a sunny Monday, we (PNLIT trustees) saw water entering Puttenahalli Lake from the rainwater diversion channel at the lake entrance near the Brigade Millennium arch. It was so little that we thought it to be the usual wash from the adjacent MLR Convention Centre.    However, a couple of days later when we found it increasing in volume and forming a black stinking mass in front of the diversion channel at the lake bed, we immediately informed BWSSB and BBMP. BWSSB's Junior Engineer, Mr. Nagaraj came to inspect the spot. He said that the sewage drain connected to…

Cycle Days that are periodically organised in different parts of Bangalore are so much fun! Cycle Day is an open streets event conducted by Bengaluru Coalition of Open Streets (BCOS) with support from local partners and organizations like Bangalore Police (Traffic and Law&Order), BBMP and others. The area around Allalasandra Lake, Yelahanka that hosted Cycle Day on 12th April 2015 saw a few thousand citizens take to the streets on their bicycles (and feet!). Among them were the local Yelahanka MLA Yelahanka MLA Mr S.R. Vishwanath, BBMP Ward 4 Corporator Mr Muniraju, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Directors Mr Kaveriappa and…

Another ‘Cycle Day’ is being organized by Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) in partnership with Directorate of Urban Land Transport, UDD, Government of Karnataka in Yelahanka New Town on Sunday, 12th April 2014, 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The venue is the area next to Allalasandra Lake. Entry is free for all.   The morning will commence with a cycle rally around Allalasandra Lake and the main roads of Yelahanka New Town (around 6.5 km). Around 3000 cyclists, local citizens, Yelahanka MLA, Corporators are expected to participate in this edition of Cycle Day. The students of IEEE Bangalore Section will be the volunteers.   Free…

The third Kere Habba (Lake Festival) of 2015 is all set to take place at Madiwala Lake on Saturday, 11th April 2015. The event has been planned in two sessions - morning 6:30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. and evening 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Kere Habba is an initiative of The Namma Bengaluru Foundation. Reports of the previous two Kere Habbas can be seen on these links - Kere Habba at Kaikondrahalli Lake, Puttenahalli Kere Habba.   Visitors to Madiwala Kere Habba can expect lots of fun activities for both children and adults. The schedule includes bird watching, sketching, cycling, craft, dance, music, story…

There has been much excitement at Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar this past week. With the onset of summer, there is not much water in the lake but it is expected that this will not be for long. PNLIT's "get water in the lake" project is closing in on another milestone.    A couple of years ago, a diversion channel to let storm water into the lake was completed by the BBMP. Apart from harvesting rain water, this move proved to be important in preventing the flooding of low-lying areas near the lake. Though the water level in the lake did rise during…

Message from MAPSAS   For World Water Day we will be organising three events at three of the lakes we are involved with. SOUL KERE RUN FOLLOWED BY BREAKFAST: 6.30-8.00AM We'll be conducting a run around Soul Kere at 6.30AM (please gather at 6.15AM).  You will need to bring a two-litre bottle(like some old coke/pepsi-type bottle that you can pick up from a kabadi wala) filled with water.  We will have volunteers who will puncture the lids of the bottles and tie them to the trees and saplings we have planted so it will drip irrigate the saplings.  We encourage each of you who…

One of the major problems with Bangalore lakes is sewage inflow - either secretly or openly. The various citizen groups working to save their neighbourhood lakes have repeatedly approached BWSSB and KSPCB, the agencies in charge of handling Bangalore's sewage and monitoring pollution, but if recent feedback is an indication, the agencies do not care. Arakere Lake (in South Bangalore) rejuvenation work was started by BDA in Feb 2014 and supposed to be completed by Feb 2015. Arbind Gupta who is an active member of the Arekere Lake team ANIT says that while work is still in progress, no effort seems…

With our trees sprouting new leaves or bursting into flower, each day is a celebration of our lake. The World Water Day (March 22nd) is but an excuse for us to get together and do our bit for Water. Post Ugadi, please join us on Sat. 28th March to clean the dry parts of the lake bed. Help us remove the plastic, pull out weeds and plant bamboo perches for the birds. For just a couple of hours of work on one day in a year, get the satisfaction of preparing your lake for the monsoon.    We are delighted to have the…