Environment

Community update on the Ibblur Lake restoration effort, shared by Mr Mukund Kumar   In the month of October, the last section of the fencing of the inner lake area around the bend from ORR service road (near Cafe Coffee Day) was finally fenced by officials of the BDA. A separate pedestrian gate was installed on the section facing the back side of Sobha Hibiscus near ORR Service. This was stalled in the context of a court case filed by a certain party who was arguing for road expansion in the lake area in the context of commercial construction interest…

PNLIT is committed to promoting awareness of the environment among the residents around the Puttenahalli Lake. We are happy to tie up with Artyplantz to achieve this end. Like PNLIT, ArtyPlantz loves nature and takes real pleasure especially in plant life.  ArtyPlantz and PNLIT are organizing two specially designed programmes on Sunday, 16th November at Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bangalore.   Session 1 - for adults and children above 15 years - to sensitize and help them connect with nature. This event will be held 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee Rs. 350/participant. Seats limited to 20.   Session 2 - for children between…

The Allalasandra Lake in Yelahanka is in its full glory after its revival over the last 11 months.     On 5th November, the lake was formally inaugurated by Mr Ramalinga Reddy, the Bangalore District incharge Minister & Transport Minister, along with Ms Shantakumari, Mayor of Bangalore City and Yelahanka MLA, Mr SR Vishwanath. Corporators of Yelahanka constituency, BBMP Additional Commissioner Mr Virupaksha Mysore along with BBMP, BWSSB and Police department officials, graced the occasion. Dr Tayappa, President-YUVA and Mr CN Chandru, Vice-President-YUVA welcomed the guests and proposed the vote of thanks respectively.  Lighting the lamp   The various dignataries who went around…

Bannerghatta Biological Park is happy to announce the addition of three new species of animals into its inventory that is kept for the public display. These animals have been received from Nandankanan Biological Park, Bhubaneswar in exchange for two pairs of lions from Bannerghatta Biological Park on November 5th 2014, through the Animal Exchange Program which was approved by the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi. Four Horned Antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis) Three (One male, two females) The four-horned antelope or Chousingha, is a species of small antelope found in the open forest in India and Nepal. The most distinctive feature of…

I was sitting in the balcony and gazing at a copper pod tree on a Sunday afternoon. A tailor bird was busy collecting nesting material. Some butterflies fluttered around  looking for nectar. The resident squirrel came by to nibble a few grains from my balcony. The squirrel kept a watch on me, each time I moved, it went and hid itself behind the pots. Though these are routine sightings, they keep me entertained and refresh me when I need a break from the countless chores at home. Yes, I do get pleasant surprises too when something very different happens in…

A recent news report stated that the Karnataka government has notified amendments to some sections of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Act. These amendments make way for a steep hike in the fines to be collected for incessant honking. The proposed fines are Rs. 1000 for the first offence and Rs. 2,000 for subsequent violations. This is not the first such initiative. The Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) launched the ‘No-honking Monday’ campaign long back. BTP had also roped in popular and respected faces of the city like Rahul Dravid to strengthen this campaign. BTP has engaged in this rhetoric of no-honking…

It all started with an idea to celebrate Deepavali by saying NO to crackers. Noble enough? Perhaps, if you think that the atmosphere is the only thing which makes up the environment. However, the environment as a whole, includes all impacted, from the people who buy crackers to the ones who burst them, from the ones who fall sick because of them, to the cracker sellers as well. So when you are hit by a noble idea one fine morning to save the environment, you also need to think about the families who could be impacted. So instead of spending…

The garbage problem in Bangalore seems to be too high a mountain (literally) to climb! Can we afford to let things slide till we are sucked into a vortex of crisis? Do we need to face a plague epidemic, as Surat did some decades ago, before we wake up? What can we, as citizens of Bangalore do, to solve the apparently unsolvable issue? Let us look at the three major aspects of the problem. First, garbage generation. If we don't generate so much garbage, we would not have to face the problem. How do we generate less garbage? The 'wet…

Editor's note:  On October 19th, Bangalore witnessed what was touted to be the city’s first world class annual marathon - the Bengaluru Marathon 2014. Over 8,000 folks participated across several categories in the race. Any event of this magnitude typically generates a lot of waste - paper cups, plastic, running bibs and the like, and it is indeed a task to collect and dispose of it responsibly.   The team handling the event however ensured that waste was disposed of in a responsible manner. This is indeed an example of responsible racing, one that other large scale events should emulate.…

Bangalore will be witness to pomp and celebration in the next couple of days on account of Deepavali, the festival of lights. While it is certainly a time to come together with family and friends, it is also important that we give a thought to how we celebrate. If bursting crackers, lighting up your house and exchanging sweets is the norm, then consider making a few changes that could very well make the entire affair more eco-friendly. Here are a couple of tips to celebrate Deepavali in a safe and eco-friendly manner. Avoid bursting crackers Crackers are probably the first…