Blogs

On the 2nd February, 2014, some of the residents of Adarsh Palm Retreat, a residential complex near the Devara Beesana Halli Lake (D B Halli Lake, a small lake located in the Bellandur Ward in south-east Bangalore) , celebrated World Wetlands Day at the lake, with a variety of events. A part of the gathering at D B Halli Lake, 020214     The residents had noticed the deterioration of the lake some months previously. Four cleanup drives were  organized, in September and October, 2013.  By May 2013 a core group of seven residents of Adarsh Palm Retreat (Devarajan,Chandramouli, Jenny,…

In his book, ‘Sidewalk’, Mitchell Duneier describes the lives of people who “work the street”, the book vendors, the magazine vendors and the ‘men without accounts’ who guard the door to the ATMs on Sixth Avenue in New York. It is an intensive ethnographical study of the social structure of street life in the city. As I read the book, I’m reminded of my interactions until now with the street vendors outside Russell market in Bangalore. They also “work the street” some becoming entrepreneurs out of necessity and others by choice, in many ways living the same lives as the…

This newsletter is shared by the citizen group, Bellandur Forum (bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com) Sarjapur Road Cleaning drive      On Saturday 15th Feb, the BBMP zonal office will do an intensive cleaning of Sarjapur Road from ORR junction to Purva Sunshine. This initiative will involve cleaning the medians, levelling the ground on either side of the tarred road, removing all illegal hoardings/advertisements, removing debris/junk from the road side and cleaning of rain water drains.  The BBMP will bring pourkarmikas, two JCBs and several tractors. Some of the residents living on this stretch are volunteering to map the problems, and coordinating the task on the ground on Saturday. More…

Spot fixing - a useful way to spend February 15, 2014 Saturday morning. Details below.  A few years ago, some of us from PNLIT spent a few hours in cleaning up a small garbage spot on Puttenahalli Road. The spot was bothering many, but all just walked past... no one was coming forward to do anything about it. Read more here. 'The Ugly Indian' group has been doing this kind of spot-fixing all over Bangalore for several years now. Read more here and here. They've been doing whatever they can, whenever they can, but as their resources are totally disproportional to…

Report by Jesse Jonathan, United Way of Bengaluru On February 9, a beautiful Sunday morning, more than 500 children came together at their local Uttarahalli Lake, on a mission to raise awareness on the dire state of the lakes in the city and prompt action. United Way of Bengaluru (UWBe), under its “Wake the Lake” campaign along with the Uttarahalli Magekere Walkers’ Association engaged children of various ages from different schools by conducting a painting competition based on the theme Water. The children also participated in a lot of fun activities based on the theme. Education sessions were conducted informing…

I haven’t got around to writing a new post in a few weeks, and part of the reason was this inspiring set of posts from fellow gardener Srikant that left me thinking what more I could write. This is part 3 of his beginner’s series that also has links to the previous 2. http://thealternative.in/environment/a-beginners-guide-to-organic-terrace-gardening-from-seeding-to-pest-management/  A discussion with a friend the other day on how to get started off on waste segregation set me thinking on some of the ways composting, segregating waste and gardening have affected my life. Here are a few: Buttermilk is now no longer something that quenches…

The second walkathon in the Connect-the-Lake series by Save Bangalore Lakes Trust is scheduled to be held in Horamavu in northern Bangalore. (The first walkathon was held at Halanayakanahalli Lake in Jan 2014.)   In July 2013, this blog carried a post on the status of the two lakes of Horamavu, Jayanthinagar (Horamavu) Kere and Horamavu Agara Kere, which can be read here. The Save Horamavu Lakes Group has been working rectify the problems faced by the lakes and get them restored.    The present problems include:* Fencing broken in many places* Massive encroachment of the lake areas   - A recent…

Under its Wake the Lake campaign, United Way of Bengaluru (UWBe) works on a number of lakes in Bangalore, involving key stakeholders such as BBMP, LDA, BDA, residents of the area, corporate volunteers and corporate funding, to revive and maintain these lakes. One of the beneficiary lakes is Uttarahalli Lake on Uttarahalli Road in South Bangalore (Ward 184). The lake has faced many problems such as sewage, a dysfunctional STP, weeds, garbage dumping. Apart from corporate support, UWBe has mobilized the local community to join hands with it. With the routine day-to-day maintenance work at lake regularly monitored, the lake…

In December 2013, Justice Subhash Adi, the second Upa Lokayukta (appointed in Mar 2013), caught the public eye after he gave the BBMP and BWSSB three months to clear encroachments and sewage inflows at various lakes in Bangalore. Justice S.B. Majage, the first Upa Lokayukta has also been giving attention to lakes. After his inspection of Yelahanka’s Allalasandra Lake in October 2013, he set the agenda for BBMP and BWSSB to rectify the problems faced by the lake. To check the progress for himself, he followed it up with a visit to the lake on February 2, 2014, in the…

When you generally have the same routine and wait patiently, and hopelessly for the same bus every day, you tend to know all the buses that pass through at that time. You tend to form patterns that, if nothing else, give you hope. There are also enough versions of BMTC red Volvos for you to look out for specific ones. My usual routine is to wait one stop before the Sarjapura Road junction for the 500K at around 4 pm. Around this time, you are greeted by a steady procession of 500Ds and 500NAs headed towards Silk Board and 500Cs…