Environment

Festival of lights turns a health hazard for children, pets and adults every year. Pic: Shree D N Deepawali/Diwali is around the corner and there is excitement in the air. Advertisements are everywhere filling billboards, newspapers, televisions and radios. People are busy shopping for clothes, lamps, fire crackers and puja material. A majority of us look forward to the festival of lights. For children it that time of the year when they get to burst fire crackers. Some love to be adventurous and burst bombs and not the milder crackers, flower pots or sparklers. Some want to feel heroic so…

I was requested by Irina Ghose and Gopal Swaminathan to conduct a nature/birding walk at Lalbagh for their daughter Divya, who was celebrating her birthday. We gathered most of the group together for a "landmark" shot: And off we went. We started with the commonest of birds, the Blue Rock Pigeon: And the Black Kite (here, a silhouette in the sky): At the lake, we saw a Little Egret and a Purple Heron: A Purple Swamphen: A Common Moorhen: A White-throated Kingfisher looked out over the rose garden. The Spotted Owlets didn't seem too enthused to see me back again…

This is surely a map no one wants to see. Nearly 1100 garbage dumps across different wards captured on a map, in the city of Bengaluru, by citizens - a crowdsourced attempt, point to how common and ubiquitous is the problem of garbage in public spaces. Each garbage dump has a story behind it. Some of the photos from the map: What's happening near this lake? Thermocol is a type of waste Bengaluru cannot figure how to dispose. Dumped in a no-man's land, it slowly pollutes the atmosphere and water bodies. A cow feeds on garbage full of paper and…

October 2nd was Gandhi’s birth anniversary and a reminder of his vision of Clean India. Our Prime Minister Modi revived the dream two years back on this day by launching Swacch Bharat Mission. We at Bellandur ward were fortunate to have passionate citizens to form Kasa Muktha Bellandur who introduced the 2bin1bag concept in 2012. Later, with the support of hundreds of volunteers across the city and solid waste managment round table, it became a law in December 2015 by the Karnataka high court. I am a new kid on the block in Waste management and had the privilege of diving deep…

A huge loss in his pressure cooker manufacturing factory and the financial crisis that followed made Ajay a migrant, or footloose informal worker. Eight years ago, he moved from Delhi to Bangalore. Having to start life from scratch, he became a waste picker. Bangalore offered him the veil of anonymity from his past. After a few years in the profession, he met a Hasiru Dala activist and became associated with the organization. Recognizing his potential in running a micro-enterprise, organization offered him to operate one of the 33 Dry Waste Collected Centers (DWCC), located in Gottigere, installed by Municipal Corporation…

  With just a day left for Gandhi Jayanti, various citizen led groups have planned to organise cleanliness programmes in various locations of Bengaluru on October 2nd. Here are the list of cleanliness programmes to be organised across the city as part of the Bengaluru Swachh Utsav 2016. The programme is organised by the Solid Waste Management Round Table in association with BBMP and KSPCB. The campaign which will be kicked off on the day of Gandhi Jayanti, will continue for the next one year, to create awareness about waste management among citizens. It includes, emphasising on door-to-door waste collection,…

Air pollution on Outer Ring Road. Pic: Mayur Channagere Air pollution in Bengaluru has become so severe, that it is forcing people with lung problems to even leave Bengaluru. Dr Padma Sundaram, pulmonologist at Manipal Hospital, says that some patients leave the city for months, to get better. She says that cases of asthma and respiratory infections are increasing, and that people with lung problems sometimes need ICU admissions when pollution levels peak, such as during winter smog and Diwali. “People from highly polluted areas are coming for treatment more often,” she says. A lung test on 503 Bengaluru school…

Whitefield Rising hosted an enlightening session on Sunday, September 26, with eminent environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy, who connected the dots among environmental consciousness, waste management, sewage treatment, lake purification, biodiversity promotion, and reconnection with nature. Held at the serene campus of Ecumenical Christian Centre, the session titled ‘Increasing Urban Greenery to Promote Healthy Living’ was attended by more than 60 citizens of all ages from different parts of the city. Yellappa Reddy addressing the residents of Whitefield Mr Reddy explained the various ways in which citizens could make a difference—through the choices they made and by questioning the administration. He told…

With consumerism at its peak and humans wasting more than utilising, it’s time to relook, to reflect, to repair. Repair Café is based on the very idea of sustainable living, to promote the judicious use of natural and personal resources in a bid to save this planet. Thanks to Whitefield Rising, the concept came alive recently near Hope Farm, set in the lap of the serene The Ant's Store– a perfect venue bathed in natural charm. People learning to repair electronic equipment at Repair Cafe event in Whitefield. A team of volunteers comprising a teenager, a banker, a techie, a homemaker,…

  GM-Free Karnataka and the Karnataka Alliance for Safe Food have announced a 'Sasive Satyagraha' event in Bangalore on October 2, 2016, to be held at the Gandhi Statue at  Anand Rao Circle, Bangalore from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is primarily a citizens' awareness and call-to-action campaign to protest against the approval of the commercial release of genetically modified varieties of mustard (GM Mustard) in the country. The fight against genetically modified food has just been revived with renewed vigour around the country, with activists and experts raising strong opposition to the introduction of GM Mustard. The commercial…