Environment

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) made it clear to the plastic manufacturers in the city that they have to go by the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, that bans plastic below 40 microns. Producers seem to agree, however they think enforcing the rule by the BBMP is the biggest problem. BBMP Joint Commissioner for Health Yatish Kumar instructed the plastic manufacturers to provide details of the quantity of plastic they are generating, so that they can provide BBMP some percentage of their turnover to manage the waste, as part of Extended Producer Responsibility. The meeting between BBMP Health…

A vegetable vendor rents a bag to a customer. Pic: Vignan Gowda Vignan Gowda, Business Excellence and Operations Manager with an IT firm and a resident of Sanjay Nagar, spearheaded several clean up drives in his area. In all the clean up drives, he observed a pattern: polythene covers comprised a significant portion of the garbage. It was this that led him to do something about it. Gowda mobilised several other active members in the locality to figure out what they could do to reduce the usage of plastic. The group then decided to tackle the problem at the source.…

Pic: Bharath Rajshekhar I have been told time and again that the cow is holy, and I have believed it until I was witness to this... a shocker, the most disturbing incident. I had been to Chickpet to buy some electrical appliances and was sitting in the shop waiting for my things to be packed. Suddenly, a big cow appeared in front of the shop. The emptiness in its eyes gave me the impression that its stomach might be empty too. I proposed to the shopkeeper that we offer her something to eat, maybe some bananas. I was taken aback when he…

High Street Park in Cooke Town is a hub of activity like any other park. Children of all ages come here to play and meet friends. Though the park is earmarked for children below the age of ten, the terrain is rocky, making it hard for the children to utilise the entire park. Also while the park did recently get some new play equipment, the old broken ones were not replaced. Recently BBMP handed over the park to the local resident’s association, Resident Welfare Association, Bangalore East (REWABE). The Association has been trying to find avenues to raise funds for…

When we observe water birds, we find that they have many different varieties of fishing for food, and here's one of the most interesting. The birds in my photographs are Painted Storks, beautiful birds which you will see in almost all large lakes of Bangalore. I took these photos at Kaikondrahalli Lake, on November 23rd, 2014. Here's a Stork, standing in the water, getting ready to look for its breakfast. The eye is already cast down in concentration. As the birds look for fish under the water, they raise one wing and hold it just above their head level. This…

The Subramaniam Committee has prepared and submitted its report on amending environment and forest-related laws. The leaked report, a copy of which is with Citizen Matters is uploaded below. It can be recalled that this committee walked out of a public hearing in Vikasa Soudha in Bengaluru last month, when green activists threw many questions about the mandate of the committee and other issues. The main hearing did not take place,though there were many other hearings that actually took place in Bengaluru. If you have anything to say about the report, do comment below the article, or mail us expressing…

We are delighted to report the sighting of our winter visitor, the Garganey Duck. On 3rd Dec. when we went to the Puttenahalli lake at 3 p.m. we saw four of them. Typical of its highly territorial nature, the Eurasian Coot, one of our resident species  was busy chasing the ducks away. The quartet merely flew a short distance and made themselves comfortable once again. We hope they are joined by more of their ilk. To know more about this migratory species, see here.   The Garganey was sighted at Puttenahalli Lake for the first time in 2011, an event which was…

It's too early to say that Swachh Bharat is failing. But it's getting late to say what it will take to make it work, and so far there is no sign of those things. 1. Get rid of the broom, and replace it with a pair of buckets—one for wet waste and the other for dry waste. Segregation at source is key to any garbage management plan. The PM's symbolic efforts with the broom did help signal an important focus that India needs, but getting the imagery right going forward will help even more. 2. Pass the Dumping Saaku law.…

  Save energy; win attractive cash prizes.  This is an open challenge by Green Energy Foundation (GEF) under its Switch2Green initiative. In a bid to encourage energy savings practices in households in Bengaluru, GEF has launched this competition with the support of Racold Thermo Ltd under its CSR initiative. Housing societies and flats comprising minimum 100 flats are eligible to take part in the competition. November 30th is the last date for registration. To participate in this competition, housing societies/ flat owners must form an Energy Management Committee (EMC) under the leadership of its chairman. After the enrollment, an audit of the performance of…

One evening I heard a buzzing sound near my glass door overlooking the garden. I did not pay much attention as I did not expect anything unusual. After a while I noticed two bees in my living room. One of them was lying on its back and was desperately trying to come back to its normal position. It took some time and started flying all around the house. I was scared of its sting—it took me a lot of courage to not swat it with a newspaper. After a long bee hunt, it was finally set free outside. These bees had started to build its…