Environment

The fourth hearing of the complaint on debris and garbage under the Namma Metro lines, filed by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) came up for hearing in front of Upa Lokayukta Subash B Adi on July 3rd. During the hearing, B.PAC submitted over 100 photographs showing the debris, construction waste and garbage still lying in the median of Namma Metro, despite the Upa Lokayukta’s previous order to the BBMP to clean up the mess. B.CLIP participants and other B.PAC volunteers conducted a daylong exercise on July 2nd, visiting the Metro line to check the status of the same. At South…

A few weeks back, while writing about Vibhutipura lake, I spoke with Shubha Priya of VIKAS, a citizens' group associated with the Vibhutipura lake. She pointed out a few interesting facts about the lake, which I missed out on during my previous visits. The idea for composing this essay originated from my interaction with her. As I had observed in my previous essay, Vibhutipura Lake is a fascinating case-study. On various tracts of the land around the lake, one can find people residing in high-rise apartments. A section of society that is not socio-economically fortunate, lives on some other parts…

As kids, we used to chant a popular ditty: Ganesha banda kaayi-kadubu tindaChik-kereyl bidda dodd-kereyl edda (Ganesha came, ate coconut modakaFell in the small lake, emerged from the big lake) Don’t ask.  But I’ll come to the point. And I do have one, believe it or not. In the 1960s, when we first moved to Jayanagara 6th block, there were two kereys (tanks). The small tank was to the west of Kanakapura Road and the large tank to the east. Unlike now, the tank bund part of Kanakapura Road was very narrow. If two lorries—usually rickety old Fords—had to pass…

A summary of some key "Bangalore lake" news Encroachments – eviction and regularisation Encroachments on government land, including lakes, shot into front page news with the demolition drive at Sarakki Lake in JP Nagar 7th Phase, in April 2015. Eviction drives and attempted drives have been happening in Bangalore on and off. For example, in September 2014, Venkatarayana Lake was cleared of some illegal structures, and in January 2015 HRBR Layout residents received eviction notices as their homes were on lake beds. In both these cases, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) was a common factor, being the reason for the…

This write up has been compiled from emails received from Shubha Ramachandran of BIOME Over the past one year, ACWADAM, BIOME, WIPRO and MAPUNITY have been working on a project to map the AQUIFERS in the area around Sarjapura Road (8 MicroWatersheds spread across 33 sqkm in South East Bangalore which is completely dependent on ground water). They have also worked to see if they can revive and protect the 15 lakes in the watershed. People from the area have shared stories and data of their wells, borewells and STPs.  The approach to gather, share and interpret data has been participatory, involving varied stakeholders like borewell diggers, tanker operators, Citizen Groups, Government Agencies etc.…

Amid the scams hitting the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC), the firm is stepping up to the challenge of reducing odour emanating from the plant by installing a biofilter system. The Rs 2 crore project, which involves filtering the air from the compost shed, will be ready in another three months, according to KCDC advisor Venkoji Rao. Windrows at work at KCDC premises. Pic: Nikita Malusare The unbearable stench arises when the composting windrows are turned in KCDC, four times a month. In the new biofilter system, four tanks are constructed, which will be filled with waste, water and coir.…

  What a day at the "Zero Plastic Run" that was flagged off from Decathlon, Sarjapur Road on June 20th! This green event organised by Decathlon, Sarjapur, and well-supported by Kasa Muktha Bellandur, various local citizen groups and Runners High, saw a sizable group of enthusiastic runners of all ages show up in the early hours of a cold, cloudy and windy Saturday morning. As the name indicates, this event was organised to showcase that such an event can be conducted and enjoyed thoroughly by going completely green. Runs usually see a whole lot of trash generated through the course of the event…

A US-based non-governmental organisation and a Bengaluru-based engineering firm have prepared a Vision Plan for restoration and regeneration of lakes in Bengaluru. The Vision plan titled ‘Better Lakes, Better Bangalore’ advocates a “sustainable water supply plan for Bangalore.” Curiously, many of the stakeholders mentioned in the report have denied involvement in preparing the report. Bengaluru-based engineering consultant firm Invicus Engineering, along with San Francisco-based non-profit organisation working towards water sustainability—Sherwood Institute and an engineering firm based in San Francisco, Carollo Engineering, had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the BDA on November 6th 2012 to provide a Vision Plan for…

The High Court of Karnataka took serious exception to the absence of BBMP Administrator M N Vijay Bhaskar from the court proceedings during the hearing of a batch of solid waste management PILs on Friday. The Special Bench constituted by the High Court comprising of Justice N Kumar and B V Nagarathna refused to accept submissions from the petitioners during Friday’s hearing, owing to the absence of the BBMP Administrator in the court. “During the last hearing in April, the court had given one and a half months time to the newly appointed BBMP Administrator and the Commissioner to study…

Thanks to the rain and the treated water, the level has gone up at the lake. Unfortunately though, the notoriously difficult to control alligator weed is also growing lushly. We hope when the level increases even more, the weeds will be submerged and rot. Well, we may be unhappy about the weed spreading but the birds are very happy about it. The number of birds frequently the lake has increased.    For the past few months, Madhurima Das, a "resident birder" from the neighbourhood has been regularly doing a weekend census of the birds at the lake, and taking pictures…