Environment

Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust (YPLBCT) is organising a birdwatching session on Sunday 20th September 2015, at Puttenahalli Lake, Yelahanka, India's newest Conservation Reserve. Dr Subramanya will be the guide. Read more about the Conservation Reserve status accorded to this lake here.   The programme is expected to be covered by Doordharshan and likely to be connected to Man Ke Baat by our PM Narendra Modi.   Venue: Puttenahalli Lake, Yelahanka - See here for location on Google Maps Date: Sunday, 20th September 2015 Time: 7 am to 10 am   For more details, please contact  NC Krishna Datta <nckrishna@yahoo.com>  KS Sangunni <sangunni@gmail.com>/ 9845063490…

It is now official. Puttenahalli Lake Birds Conservation Reserve is now a reality! Puttenahalli Lake in Yelahanka has been declared a "Conservation Reserve" by the Karnataka Government.  Bangalore Mirror's article dated 14th Sep 2015 says: The move makes Bengaluru arguably the only Tier-I urban area to have a bird sanctuary within the city limits.   For several years, efforts have been on to get this lake in north Bangalore onto India's Conservation Reserve list. A report in The New Indian Express of April 2007 said: According to biodiversity expert Dr Harish R Bhat, Bangalore is left with only 34 healthy tanks, 14 of which are in…

Thank god it didn't rain! We never thought we would say this but it was important that the early evening of Sat. 12th Sept remained nice and dry. "Keshavraju Thippaswamy" wanted a drum above everything else. Would he get it was the question in the minds of the 30 odd children who had gathered in the Gazebo at the Puttenahalli Lake in South Bengaluru. The occasion was a celebration, though a little delayed, of International Literacy Day with a story telling by Geetu and team from the Snehadhara Foundation in an event organized by PNLIT. As part of its One Day…

The environment is a hot topic everywhere - in offices, in the press, even in classrooms across the world. The need for action to protect our planet is gaining traction, and the first step in addressing the issue is raising awareness. Among the steps being taken to protect the planet, waste management is a burning theme. E-waste, in particular, is attracting attention since it is well-known that it is one of the most toxic forms of waste. India is the fifth largest e-waste generator in the world and produced 1.7 million tons of e-waste in 2014. The toxic pollutants of…

The nightmare of our lakes is fast approaching. Yes, this is the time of year that every lake that has water in it would actually be wishing it was dry enough to turn away devotees of Lord Ganesha. Every year during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, thousands of idols that do not dissolve/ with hazardous paint and paraphenalia (not environmentally friendly) find their way to lakes and immersion tanks, creating tons of garbage after the festival.   This year, in order to encourage people to use clay Ganesha idols, MAPSAS will be doing two events at Kaikondarahalli Lake on Sunday, 13th…

Another Kere Habba this Saturday! The Horamavu Parisara Abhivruddhi Samiti (HPAS) - formerly Save Horamavu Lakes, in association with Namma Bengaluru Foundation is organising the Horamavu Agara Kere Habba on Saturday, 12th September 2015, from 7 a.m. to 12 noon at Horamavu Agara Kere. The exact location of the lake can be seen at this link goo.gl/maps/LYjmV. Kere Habba is an initiative of Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF). Habbas are held periodically at different Bangalore lakes, to create awareness about the importance of our lakes, and encourage citizen participation in their preservation. Reports/information about the previous four Kere Habbas can be seen on these links - Kere Habba at Kaikondrahalli Lake, Puttenahalli Kere Habba, Madiwala…

PNLIT invites you to celebrate International Literacy Day with "The Boy and the Drum" an engaging folk tale chosen especially for this year's event by Pratham Books. The book, adapted from a folktale by Umesh PN and beautifully illustrated by Rajiv Eipe is different because it is written in a way that can be performed as a play or read as a story. Meet Umesh the writer here. Geetu and her Snehadhara team are gearing up to tell the tale at Puttenahalli Lake. Will it be a play? Will it be a story? Find out for yourselves at the story telling session.   Date: Saturday, 12th September 2015  Time: 4:30…

There is not even a name for it, not Sangama, not anything, but just Kudlu... the meeting point. Here the Vrushbhavathy, which rises from the Bull Temple in Basavangudi, Bengaluru meets the Arkavathy, which rises from the Nandi Hills range. Urban rivers have become 'nullahs' carrying sewage, the rural rivers—if you can even call it such—are dammed for urban water needs, for irrigation and for electricity. The Arkavathy is born here. At the birth place of the river, the well water is full and clean... The gentleman has been crossing the Arkavathy daily for the last 50 years... he wades across…

Last month, I’d discussed spiders. I then thought about the creatures that use them as prey, and this reminded me of the Wasp-and-Spider drama that I witnessed. About four years ago, I made this post about the Spider or Pompilid Wasp organising food for her yet unborn children, by stunning and burying a Yellow-thighed Tarantula or the Indian Ornamental Spider.  Well, her story repeated itself while we were at the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. This Spider Wasp had already stunned the Tarantula by the time we saw it. Unhappy with the first site she had chosen, she dug it out of the…

Bevinmara Colony - Before and After. Pic: Team FORCE-GW Bevinmara Colony is a small village in Whitefield surrounded by high-rise apartments and high-end villa communities. The village has about 300 households, 6 shops, 3 temples and 1 church. Residents of Bevinamara Colony needed help in improving the overall condition of the colony in the areas of education, health and infrastructure. Proper Solid Waste Management (SWM) in the village was one of the many initiatives that the Federation of RWAs, Communities and Establishments of Greater Whitefield (FORCE-GW ) wanted to implement in Bevinmara Colony. The residents of the colony were very…