Environment

If Dussehra 2013 was unique for PNLIT with a South City resident replicating Puttenahalli Lake in her Golu, this year it was a lady from Brigade Millennium who took us by surprise. Mrs. Anjana Shivakumar wanted to donate to PNLIT, the money she would otherwise have spent on gifts for her guests invited for Haldi kumkum!    What better celebration can there be of Mother Nature than by taking care of a lake? Mrs. Shivakumar and her 40 friends chanted Lalitha Sahasarnama invoking the Mother Goddess. When it ended, she announced that she was giving Rs. 5000 to PNLIT towards nurturing…

Trinity Woods and Acres is a 7.5 acres residential community, near Sarjapur Road. As part of Rainwater Harvesting implementation, it was decided to dig a 6ft diameter and 40ft deep recharge well at one of the lowest points in the layout that is near their currently yielding borewell (which is adjacent to Sarjapura Road). Dewatering with a bucket does not work out. Work proceeded uneventfully till we struck water at about 9ft. The water had no odour, looked clean, with pH 7.5 and TDS 1100ppm. The water seemed to continuously flow in at about 6-10 litres per minute. 6ft of…

Editor's note: Citizen Matters had published an article regarding the controversy amongst residents of Prestige Shantiniketan apartment, regarding managing the trees planted on the podium in right way. This is a clarification issed by the Prestige Shantiniketan Management Committee president, in which the concerns and possible way forward has been detailed.  Roots of trees protruding from the soil on the podium. Pic: Prof K B Reddy The discussion on removing the trees growing on the podium had been on, within the Prestige Shantiniketan residents group, for the last year and a half. The decision if any is not going to…

Editor’s note: This article is published in response to an earlier article published on October 1st 2014 - Red Bull’s flight competition leaves Sankey lake premises garbage-ridden. 300 Feet Eco Solutions, the firm in charge of waste management at the Red Bull event, got in touch with Citizen Matters. They clarified that they had cleared out the waste from the Sankey Lake premises. Aditya Seshnath and Preetham Murthy, co-founders of 300 Feet Eco Solutions share the details. Like most large events, the “Red Bull Flugtag” event that took place over the past weekend generated a considerable amount of litter. 300…

Today, on occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi and the Clean India Mission - Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) organized a lake cleaning program around the Allalasandra Lake in Yelahanka.   Dr Lakshmi from Karuna International Bangalore, along with SWMRT, organized a Poster exhibition that depicted the effect of plastic on the streets on cows that eat them, and solid waste management.   Over 1000 local citizens, including MLA Mr S.R. Vishwanath and Corporator Mr Muniraju participated in the program. The storm water drains and the roads leading to the lake were cleaned by BBMP workers. The participants took a pledge to keep the…

There are several issues - short term, medium term and long term, that I see with the RedBull FlugTag event held at Sankey Tank premises in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. 1. Short term From the photographs I have seen of the aftermath, the areas around Sankey Tank appear littered with rubbish, with trash all around the lake and in the lake as well, including non-biodegradables like thermocol. The impact on the fish, birds and other lake wildlife that ingest this thermocol can only be imagined. During events like this, the noise and bright lights also add to the disturbance to urban wildlife.…

India's 1st #RedBullFlugtag. 28th September, 2014. Sankey Tank, Bangalore. Done. Red Bull, the beverage company, put this message out with a photo on their Facebook page, just after the end of India’s first Flugtag event, held at the Sankey Tank premises in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. The event that was meant to be a competition for innovative flying equipment, was presumed to be over by the organisers; but it was not so, especially when one considers the aftermath of the event. Regular walkers who entered the premises on Monday morning were in for a shock - there was garbage strewn all over the usually…

Today, 28th September 2014, Bangalore is playing host to the first ever Red Bull Flugtag in India. Red Bull Flugtag (Flugtag=flight day) is an event organized by Red Bull in which competitors attempt to fly home-made, size- and weight-limited, human-powered flying machines (max 10m/30 ft, 150 kg/330 lbs). The flying machines are usually launched off a pier about 30 feet (9.1 m) high into the sea (or suitably sized reservoir of water). Most competitors enter for the entertainment value, and the flying machines rarely fly at all. The first Red Bull Flugtag competition was held in 1991 in Vienna, Austria. It was such a success that it has been held…

Trees cut on Kanakpura Road (Pic: Environment support group) If you are a person who worries when the city starts flooding during rains as there is no room left for water to go, with storm water drains and lakes continuously being encroached, or one who worries about the environmental degradation happening in the city of Bangalore, this is your chance to stand up and say what you want. The Karnataka Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment has issued a circular, inviting the public to participate in the public consultation organised in Bangalore on September 27, 2014, by the High Level…

In an effort to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation and resulting ground water table depletion in hte city, citizen groups, NGOs and other organizations, active in the area of lake and water security for Bangalore, have come together to form One Bengaluru for Lakes (OBL). The group aims to raise 'One Bengaluru, One voice, One Demand' by reaching out to people to increase their awareness and involve them in the protection of lakes in their neighborhood. As part of this campaign, OBL organised a seminar on September 21 at Senate hall of Central College, Palace Road. The session opened…