Environment

Water divining is the detection of under ground water without actually digging into the ground. The "diviner" locates water with the help of rules that he/she has inherited or learnt and/ or tools like coconuts, rods, pendulums and the like. Some use the geophysical survey approach, which may sound more scientific than the ancient methods.   During my childhood, when we were going to dig a well in our house in Richmond Town, my father had called a diviner. I recall how fascinated we were when we saw how, with the help of a gold chain, he identified a couple…

Just planting tree saplings is not enough. Much care needs to be taken to ensure that the saplings get enough sunshine, water and other nutrients - to give them a fair chance to grow into mature trees.   The residents around Narisipura Lake 2, Vidyaranyapura have been consciously attending to the trees that were planted some weeks ago. This Sunday, 10th August 2014, several of them from the Friends of Lakes group got together at the lake, along with experts who eagerly gave advice and lent support as required.  While one group was busy tending to the plants and fixing drip…

What a truly delightful evening it was on the 9th, celebrating the magic of monsoon with some 30 children!  The 20 member team from Snehadhara Foundation (SF) led by Geetu had come well in advance to welcome the children. Despite the fact that only 4 or 5 kids had arrived on time, we began the event at the scheduled time of 5 p.m. The late-comers missed the warming up and sing along. Adult and child alike sat on the floor of the Gazebo and introductions began with each participant adding an "O" or "Aa" to their names.    Geetu dramatized…

A group of ten children, was seen cleaning up a dirty plot in BTM Layout on Ramzan . They managed to pick twelve large bags of trash. Here is their story. Two 16-year-olds, Vivek and Adhesh from Sri Kumaran’s Children’s Home started Bangalore Trash Mob as a social action project for schools, and this has now become an ongoing community service with the help of their friends. Despite being busy with board exams, they found time to conduct two mobs last year. On Ramzan holiday, while a majority of children spent time with their gadgets, hung around in malls or…

A sacred fig tree used as a place of worship. Pic: currentconservation.org It is a common sight to see a tree protruding onto a pavement, often onto the street and sometimes even acting as a divider in the centre of the road. These are trees that have survived the axe-happy city-planning authorities just by their nature of being classified culturally as Sacred Trees. Divya Gopal, Harini Nagendra elaborate on the importance of these trees and the reasons they have survived the onslaught of development in the city, in an article, Sacred trees in the urban landscape of Bangalore, India, published…

This article intends to understand how discarded vegetables and fruits in supermarkets of Bengaluru can be provided to cattle rather than letting them wastefully rot to become a breeding ground for diseases in rainy days. Common vendor and big marts inefficiently handle vegetables/ fruits rather than utilising them better. They don't know how it can be prevented from rotting. Many a times they simply sell the rotting stuff at lower costs to consumers who can't afford higher prices. In most big retail marts, fruits like apples are often concealed by covering them with labels/stickers, by applying wax at the places…

The monsoon is a love - hate season. You may hate the wetness, the puddles, the sniffling noses, darkness of the skies, the difficulty in waking up, but you can't deny that it is magical time with the cooing of the cuckoo, dancing of the peacock, crispy pakodas, hot chai ... the list is endless! Let's celebrate the Magical Monsoon!! Paint your favourite monsoon scenes!! Tell your rainy day tales!! Date: Saturday August 9th Time: 5 pm to 6 30 pm Venue: Gazebo, Puttenahalli Lake (of course!) Admission is open and free, however, we do welcome your donations to PNLIT!…

In Bengaluru, vehicular pollution and dust are the major contributors to air pollution, and as listed earlier in this series, they cause several health and environmental problems. While the dust is mostly from construction activities, the air currents and constant vehicular motion keep the pollutants in circulation all the time. There is no single solution to mitigate air pollution given the number of government agencies involved and the heterogenous mix of vehicle users and commuters. In this article, we look at the role individual road users play. On an average, 6734 BMTC buses ferry 49,50,000 passengers in 79677 bus trips…

The 124-acre Doddabommasandra Lake (located in Vidyaranyapura area of north Bangalore) is now richer by 1500 saplings! Yesterday morning (Sunday, 27th July 2014) more than 950 people of all ages participated in a major tree planting activity, as a part of the neighbourhood's lake rejuvenation efforts.  For the senior citizens, the event was one that evoked memories of old Bangalore, when everybody participated in "community" activities without having to be invited. The message just carried in the air and everyone would be there!  Though the event was not widely publicised, word of mouth proved to be very effective. People brought…

The High Court directed Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to reopen the processing unit in Mavallipura, by allowing upto 300 tonnes of pure segregated wet waste to be composted. The two-judge Divisional Bench headed by N Kumar and Nagarathna gave the order in the special hearing that took place in High Court of Karnataka on July 17, 2014. The 40-acre landfill has been leased out to Ramky Infrastructure Pvt.Ltd for 25 years, in which there is a part that has a processing unit. The Judge, N Kumar said that instead of lying unused, this should be used to process pure…