Blogs

Allalasandra Lake, Yelahanka will host Bangalore's fifth Kere Habba on Sunday 7th June 2015. Since January this year, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation has been regularly collaborating with local lake groups to organise Kere Habbas (lake festivals) across the city. The earlier four habbas were held at Kaikondrahalli, Puttenahalli JP Nagar, Madiwala and Chellakere.  The Allalasandra Kere Habba is being held in collaboration with Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA). About YUVA: YUVA has been in the forefront of the rejuvenation of the 44-acre Allalasandra Lake, with support from the Upa Lokayukta, local MLA, Corporator, BBMP, BWSSB, police officials and citizens. It…

A Mathematics teacher at Corporation Malleswaram High School teaching a 9th standard class. Pic: Shamsheer Yousaf What can we do to improve public schooling, tangibly? Ever since the terrible PU results came out showing more children failing than passing, I've got a lot of letters asking what can be done about this. To my understanding, we need to do at least the following three things, to have any chance of intervening swiftly in the lives of millions of children. Increase the funding levels for education I know we are perfectly capable of wasting money, but even so, without proper investment…

Date: 17th May 2015Venue: In front of the South City Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)Time: 9:45 a.m. onwards Some 40 people - South City assn (SUGRUHA) Management Committee, members and staff, PNLIT trustees, BBMP and KSPCB officials, residents from the neighbourhood were waiting eagerly. It was a very special day not just for them but indeed also for the city of Bangalore.   The much awaited day   A milestone was set that morning when at 10:30 a.m., Dr Vaman Acharya, Chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) released excess treated water from the STP at South City to…

Ganga Madappa, Staff Reporter and Community Manager at Citizen Matters, writes: Here's a side of the Ulsoor lake that not too many people notice. To the left of the kalyani at the lake, is a storm water drain that comes all the way from Richards Town. And along with rain water, it also carries an unimaginable amount of filth. Plastic, clothes, shoes, leaf litter etc make their way into the water. Workers clearing this filth claim to have found even pillows and suitcases...    This alone makes for a strong case for the city authorities to enforce waste segregation.  

Bellandur Buzz... Issue # 36 Date: 22 May 2015 This fortnightly newsletter is brought to you by the residents group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com   Protest against Bellandur – Agara SEZ   Peaceful protest Date: 7th June 2015 Venue: Next to Agara lake and the temple Time: 9:30am – 11:30am Protest is organized by Koramangala and Bellandur residents. Why we are opposed: Blatant encroachment on ~100 acres of Bellandur wetlands. Threatening the survival of Bellandur Lake, the largest in Bangalore. A serious threat to underground water levels and sources Mega project requires water currently being supplied to 3 big wards. Supply zero sum…

How hard it is to make a manhole cover that is LEVEL with the road? Not very hard, but no matter how many times this is pointed out, BWSSB never does this. I spent some time trying to figure this out, and learned three things. A. BWSSB assumes that BBMP will keep raising the level of the road each time tar is added, so, the drain cover will be eventually level for a brief period However, any further raise in the road makes cover sink, and that too is visible in many places. BBMP could easily mill each road's old…

PNLIT is delighted by the performance of our three students in the II P.U.C. exams. All of them got over 70% with Deepubai getting 75%, Sadiqa 71% and Ramya 72%.    Living in the hutments on the lake bund, they joined PNLIT's Classes at the Lake program (Teach program) three years ago. Thanks to V.P. Karthik, now pursuing PhD at IIT, Chennai, Anisha Kaul and Swathi Jayakumar, the girls' performances were beyond their own expectations in Std 10 as well.    Our volunteer teachers not only coached them but also encouraged them to dream big. Deepu wants to do engineering and is…

PNLIT is delighted to announce that a long cherished dream of seeing our neighbourhood Puttenahalli Lake brim with water will soon be a reality! The Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Dr. Vaman Acharya will be formally inaugurating the pipeline to supply surplus treated water from the Sewage Treatment Plant of South City apartments (Arekere Mico Layout) to the Puttenahalli Lake tomorrow, Sunday 17th May at 10:00 a.m.  After the pipeline was laid, a trial to check for any leakages was done earlier this month, and it seems that all is fine. We are truly grateful to the South City Management Committee…

BB King, one of the legendary musicians of the Blues passed away yesterday. Why was he so popular? When his voice carressed and moaned on the microphone, you alternatively rejoiced and cried - the highs and the lows made you feel like you were swinging on a pendulum. The lyrics of the song were not just mere words but much more than that. BB King took you on a journey where you lost track of time and who you were. You felt bogged down by the problems of the world and felt the loss of a loved one. Here's a…

Are you a registered college or university student from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, or Sri Lanka?  Do you have an innovative idea on how you will make your surroundings more environment-friendly?   If your answer to both these questions is 'yes', then, you are eligible to compete for an All-Expenses-Paid entry (facilitated by Earth Day Network) to the South Asia Youth Environment Conclave that will be held in September 2015. Your student card must be valid till July 31, 2015. Share your innovative ideas to make your campus and community environment-friendly. Clean it! Green it! Install renewable energies! Manage waste and save water!…