Articles by Pravar Chaudhary

In the first part of The Secret Life of Bengaluru’s Lakes, the history of the city’s lakes and how they are connected were explored. In the second part, the author looks at the future of lakes and how protecting lakes could improve our transit experience. Uses and Users of Lakes There is a lot more going on in our lakes today than we are aware of. Here is a short video that highlights some of the activities in some of our lakes. Read more: In pictures: Backyard birding at Kaikondrahalli and Kasavanahalli lakes The future of lakes Our relationship with…

We have over 200 lakes in Bengaluru today. Some are amazing ecosystems, some are toxic wastelands filled with trash, and most are somewhere in the middle. Depending on who you are and where you stay, you may or may not have a relationship with your local lake. There is a lot going on though in each of our lakes, and there is a lot more that can happen with them in the future. Get to know about the history of Bengaluru's lakes and how they are connected: History of Bengaluru's lakes Early history It is said that Kempegowda’s mother told…

Ward committees bring democracy to your doorstep, and give you a say in the planning and management of local work. The Nagarpalika Act, 1992, a central law, made ward committees mandatory for large cities. But this was not implemented in Bengaluru for long. It took years of citizen campaigning for ward committees to be formed at all. More recently, the High Court judgement in a PIL by the NGO Environment Support Group, and public outcry, compelled the Bengaluru Mayor to issue a direction to compulsorily hold ward committee meetings on the first Saturday of every month. Following this, the BBMP…