Articles by Arathi Manay Yajaman

Inviting nature lovers to plant 300 saplings at Kasavanahalli Lake.  This is the fourteenth lake where SayTrees will be doing tree plantation. Join this vibrant tree-planting group in its effort to increase the green cover of Bangalore and also save our lakes.  Date : 21st November 2015 Time : 8:30 A.M. Venue : Kasavanahalli Lake, Harlur Road Contact : Durgesh @ 9008659007   Please register at: http://bit.ly/1WYZNx1    

Update from People's Campaign for Right to Water-Karnataka <cawpka@gmail.com> 24th Nov 2015 The National Law School of India University & The People’s campaign for Right to Water invites you to a brain storming on   EVOLVING ROBUST LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SAFEGUARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER BODIES  10 AM to 1 PM 26 November 2015at the National Law School of India University, Nagarbhavi Bangalore The discussants includeShri. Ranjan Chatterjee IAS, Expert Member of National Green TribunalProf. Ramesh, NLSIUProf. Sairam Bhat, NLSIUShri. Ramacharya Puranik, Deputy Director, LDAShri. Rajendran Prabhakar, PCRW – Karnataka The brain storming is being held to collectively and urgently address the issue of the…

Last Tuesday, on 27th October, when our gardeners came to work at 9 a.m., they saw four of the Cuddappa stone seats in the Gazebo smashed, 15 out of the 20 heavy Sadarahalli granite seat of benches along the walking track were upturned and one broken into two. See the pix. We are used to vandals breaking the glass windows of the cabin, ripping apart our signages, pulling down branches of trees, even uprooting them but this incident takes it to another level altogether. Who did this in the dark of the night? Evil minds or empty minds?                We informed BBMP…

On 8th October 2015, a group of 34 volunteers from Cisco livened up Puttenahalli Lake with their good humored banter, comments and most of all, with their swift and efficient planting of saplings to form a protective hedge along the side of the walking track. This was done to prevent stray dogs from going down the embankment and chasing the birds away. By planting the saplings the Cisco volunteers saved a great deal of labour for us and our gardeners. By sending us the report below, they saved us the trouble of writing one as well! Sincere thanks to Cisco's Jagadeesh Maiya and Sudarshan Ganapathi, who…

We are wary of festivals because of the toll they take on water bodies in general and our lake in particular. Navaratri, however, became special for us since 2013 when a South City resident Raji decided to make our Puttenahalli Lake part of her "Golu." Invited for haldi kumkum, we walked in and stopped short. What? Our Lake in the Golu? The lake made of chart paper and little figures was almost an exact replica of Puttenahalli Lake. Raji and her son Aditya had anticipated it full of water and their model had an expanse of blue when in reality…

Horamavu Parisara Abhivruddhi Samiti (HPAS), formerly called Save Horamavu Lakes, is joining hands with Janaagraha and BBMP to clean Horamavu! The Cleaning drive will be rolled out in several locations. VOLUNTEERS are needed this Saturday, 24th Oct at 8 a.m. in front of Homebuzz. Please register by clicking here, and filling out the form. Please join this effort in large numbers. For more information check the Facebook page here or email save-horamavu-lakes@googlegroups.com. 

Bellandur Lake has been frothing again, and in a big way. Read a report here. This time, several people are trying to find a long term solution. An online petition has got more that 15,000 signatures. You can lend your support too, on Change.org here.   The former Panchayath leader of Bellandur, Mr. Jagannath, has called for a citizen's meeting to discuss concrete steps to save the lake. He has seen the lake when it was thriving and will tell everyone about the history of the lake, the problems, the fight in court some years ago, and the resulting Lok…

PNLIT is happy and thankful to be honoured with the "Prakrti Mitra Award", instituted jointly by BNM Institute of Technology, Bangalore and Heritage, a non-profit NGO. The award was received on behalf of PNLIT by trustee Nupur Jain, former trustee Prasanna Vynatheya and volunteer Divya Shetty, at a function held at the BNM Institute of Technology campus during the institute’s Srishti Sambhrama Festival on 23rd September 2015.   A beautiful citation was given to PNLIT: "In recognition of the exemplary service rendered to the community, and to the Nation, extending itself to protecting, preserving, and promoting the cause of the Environment…

Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust (YPLBCT) is organising a birdwatching session on Sunday 20th September 2015, at Puttenahalli Lake, Yelahanka, India's newest Conservation Reserve. Dr Subramanya will be the guide. Read more about the Conservation Reserve status accorded to this lake here.   The programme is expected to be covered by Doordharshan and likely to be connected to Man Ke Baat by our PM Narendra Modi.   Venue: Puttenahalli Lake, Yelahanka - See here for location on Google Maps Date: Sunday, 20th September 2015 Time: 7 am to 10 am   For more details, please contact  NC Krishna Datta <nckrishna@yahoo.com>  KS Sangunni <sangunni@gmail.com>/ 9845063490…

It is now official. Puttenahalli Lake Birds Conservation Reserve is now a reality! Puttenahalli Lake in Yelahanka has been declared a "Conservation Reserve" by the Karnataka Government.  Bangalore Mirror's article dated 14th Sep 2015 says: The move makes Bengaluru arguably the only Tier-I urban area to have a bird sanctuary within the city limits.   For several years, efforts have been on to get this lake in north Bangalore onto India's Conservation Reserve list. A report in The New Indian Express of April 2007 said: According to biodiversity expert Dr Harish R Bhat, Bangalore is left with only 34 healthy tanks, 14 of which are in…