Lakes

In 1978, as the city of Seoul in South Korea 'developed', a 6 km. long river called the Cheonggyecheon was covered up. An 8-lane street was built over it, and an elevated expressway built over the street. The road was called Cheonggye Road, in memory of the late river.In 2005 the elevated expressway and the road were broken up and the river restored. It took two  years and the equivalent of Rs. 4000 crore for the restoration. 2002 : Seoul's Cheonggyecheon river in its avatar as a road. Pic source: G V Dasarathi. 2005 : Seoul's Cheonggyecheon river after its…

Environment Support Group is organising a workshop on ‘Understanding therole and the importance of Wetlands in Urban spaces.' The workshop will beheld on 26th September 2009 at the MariGowda Hall in Lal Bagh.The various sessions are as follows: Historical view of lakes in Bangalore Current status of Lakes in Bangalore Criticality of lakes for water security in Bangalore Urban Lakes as functional eco-systems Legal and Policy frameworks that govern lakesThe workshop aims to bring together Decision makers, Media, NGOs, Teachers,Students and the general public.. You are also invited to use our workshop as an opportunity to display yourphoto-exhibits, charts, models,…

Here's an announcement I got via Hasiru Usiru:Those who want unbaked, uncoloured Ganesha vigrahams of the size that can be dissolved at home in a bucket of water and poured back to join your garden soil, can contact3419177 or 9342303247or email Chandra Ravikumar atchandraravikumar@hotmail.com⊕References

The photo speaks for itself.   ⊕

It was the first time I was actually testing out the walking track here and believe me, this was refreshing. The walking surface is a wee bit rough but who cares, with the kind of visual panorama that unfolds as you take that long curve half-way around the lake. Your starting point is near the Foto Flash outlet and you can go right up to the Gurudwara, where you turn around for the return journey. I couldn't time my stretch, because I was stopping every five minutes to take a picture. The evenings at the lake front can also get…

As you take a walk around Madiwala Lake, you will see that this area needs some help. And that’s what Murali Ramnath, cyclist and resident of BTM Layout thought too. Ramnath is a member of RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation that encourages and promotes sustainable transport through cycling. It was this passion for cycling that got Ramnath and the foundation to do a preliminary study and propose a plan to build a cycling track and a pedestrian path around Madiwala Lake. Murali Ramnath, member, RideACycle Foundation (Pic: Meera K) On 31st January, the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority…

What could be a better start to a bright Sunday morning than visiting a lake? Unless you end up looking at a stretch of water full of decaying garbage and have to inhale the resultant stink. This was the case of Agara Lake, near HSR Layout, in south-east Bangalore. Once known as a beautiful water body with chirping birds, over a period of time it was transformed into a garbage dump. Recently, however, the lake got a welcome makeover when an annual cleaning drive was organised. Held on 15th February, the cleaning drive, led by Major Pramod Kapur, President of…

Bangalore, one the fastest growing cities in India, has been known as the Garden City. The city boasts of congenial climate that birds thrive in. Three hundred or more varieties of birds have been identified around Bangalore and its peripheries. With exponential growth of the IT hub of India, the city has seen rapid changes and this has affected its bird population. Some birds have shifted their nesting areas, some have become mere visitors and some have found a place on the endangered species list. In this series on 'Birds of Bangalore', we will talk about some of the birds…

Traffic planning, road widening and mass tree felling is all the rage in Bangalore nowadays. City officials have paid scant respect to environmental activist groups who have protested the destruction of the inner city's green cover. There is good reason for this. Do you know that our city planners are extremely busy looking far ahead into the future and have some great plans in store? Here is a rundown of some stupendous new projects on the anvil and the benefits they will bring1. Improving passenger volumes on the Bangalore Metro:High passenger usage is a key to any major Metro project.…

The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday, 4th November directed the Lake Development Authority (LDA) not to enter into fresh agreements enabling private parties to own lakes. A division of the HC bench, comprising Chief Justice PD Dinakaran and Justice VG Sabhapathi, took the State government to task, observing that the government was trying to commercialise lakes by handing them over to the private parties.The Court directed the government and the LDA to take a decision regarding steps to be taken to protect lakes and gardens, to preserve the beauty of cities and maintain ecological balance. It has given two…