Greenies

It’s that time of the year, when crackers compete with lights. It is also the time when eye hospitals are on alert to attend to emergency cases. This is when Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) starts measuring air pollution in Bengaluru diligently and collects data to compile reports on air quality. This is also when activists, media and government agencies start coming up with fire safety guidelines. And this also is when activists who advocate eco-friendly celebrations are countered with whataboutery on crackers:“What about animal slaughter done by other religion?” “What about industrial pollution?” “Don’t you pollute air by…

BMTC is the lifeline of Bengaluru. Its buses deliver 5 million (50 lakh) passenger trips everyday. This figure of passengers carried is close to half the population of the city. Without BMTC, we would all be dead, in a manner of speaking, as the city's already beyond-clogged roads would need to carry this huge number of people in vastly more motor vehicles. In comparison Namma Metro does not yet carry even one-tenth that number of people a day along its currently functional 2 lines. And reports are that their service is already 'at capacity' until much-needed coaches are added and…

There's no denying that butterflies bring touches of bright colour to a dull, rainy day. At the Valley School near Bengaluru, on Gandhi Jayanti, (2 October 2017) we were singing the Blues.... Blues are Lyacaenid butterflies, which show a bright blue colour when flying (and which is often hidden when they alight and fold their wings.)  As Wikipedia puts it, Lyacaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species. Some species among them are known to be…

The third week of August ended with a wildlife event and a wildlife/conservation festival, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. The first was the screening of "Cobra King", a documentary on the King Cobra made by Sandesh Kadur of Felis Creations It was Gowrishankar of Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology narrating the life cycle of this iconic reptile of the Western Ghats. I cannot yet find the documentary on the net ( has it not yet been released to the wild, like rescued snakes are...?), but here is another video on the same snake from the same film maker: Here's…

I’m not quite sure why I chose to volunteer at the Dastkar Mela. There was this exhibition held between 11th and 20th August 2017, at Manpho Convention Centre, Spectrum Grounds 1 & 2, near Nagawara in Bengaluru. But nobody else I knew was volunteering, so it wasn’t as though I’d get to have a fun filled day with friends. The only reason I can think of now, is that when I got to hear about the mela, I was relaxing after a long, tiring shopping spree at the mall. Seeing attendants busily arranging displays, putting clothes back on racks, and…

Three communities in southeast Bengaluru - Rainbow Drive, Adarsh Palm Retreat and Renuka School adjacent to Kaikondarahalli Lake, have created individualised water management plans to solve problems like water shortage, reliance on borewells and flooding. Knowledge and understanding of their groundwater system has allowed these communities to make smarter decisions when it comes to withdrawing groundwater and making the conscious effort to recharge water back into the earth. Biome Environmental Trust, ACWADAM and Mapunity with funding from Wipro Ltd. spent three years researching the water that lies beneath the surface in a research project called Participatory Aquifer Mapping (PAQM). An…

Lalbagh - my beautiful slice of heaven was taken over for the past fifteen days for the flower show. A 250-year-old garden on 240 acres, with one of the most spectacular collections of trees in the world was trashed. Very disheartened to see the crowd fill the place with garbage even though there were dustbins kept all over the place. The heritage rock - a three hundred billion year old rock which is the major attraction of Lalbagh, was filled with plastic covers flying all over the place and soft drink bottles. Shame on us people! A so-called hi-tech city…

A girl lies bleeding for 30 minutes, in a park, after a ladder attached to a slide falls on her head. When she finally gets medical help, it’s too late. Who killed Priya? Each one of us! Those who are responsible for keeping the park safe and accessible for the kids... Passersby busy taking pictures and sharing it in Whatsapp instead of helping find medical attention... we residents who did not raising the issue of dangerous play equipment when we notice it… All of us are responsible. As long as it is not happening in our own backyard and oury…

This year marks the 206th flower show held at Lalbagh Botanical Garden. The remarkable display of plants is nothing short of breathtaking and draws crowds in the thousands each of the show’s ten days. The flower show while a beautiful display of nature is also a colorful collection of people brought together under the shady trees of Lalbagh Botanical Garden to admire the elaborate exhibitions composed of plant species from around the world. There are over 200 varieties of flowers and over 20,000 pots with a detailed description of every plant on display. This year the show celebrates the late…

Waste management is a hot topic in Bengaluru these days. With so many ways to compost, reuse and recycle, the possibilities are endless. But where do you start? You have a bucket of kitchen waste and an area perfect for a small garden just waiting to be utilised. How do you get from discarded eggshells and browning banana peels to nutrient-packed soil and eventually a thriving vegetable garden? Basavanagudi in Bengaluru hosted a Composting Santhe (fair) on June 25, Sunday, to answer questions on composting and promote home gardening. The five-hour event saw a crowd of all ages interested in…