Environment

There are finally corporators who are walking the talk on managing waste. Smt Nandini Srinivasa and Sri ME Pillappa (BBMP Wards 9 and 10 respectively) are taking a personal interest in trying to alleviate the Mandur mess. On the Facebook page Vidyaranyapura-The Original, Smt Srinivasa's post reads: We all know that most of the waste collected in Bangalore is being dumped near Mandur and that is creating health and environment problems to Mandur residents and nearby villages. To avoid this we request you to attend an event “From Waste to Wealth” on 20th July 2014, Sunday at Narasipura Lake. We are thankful to…

Compact Fluorescent Lamps fall under e-waste category, however Bangalore does not have a system to recycle them. Pic: Wikimedia and Wikihow We feel good about the savings Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) achieve in terms of energy efficiency and cost, and the bright lights that light up our homes. The city of Bengaluru sees high CFL usage. However, once a CFL loses its life, what does one do? Throw it carelessly into dustbin away from one’s eyes, and forget it? What happens to it then? Here’s what happens. The CFL light joins a pile of garbage, tied inside a plastic cover.…

Vehicular traffic causes maximum air pollution in Bangalore city. Benagluru’s air may not be the most polluted in the country, but it is among the top 15 polluted cities in the country with its particulate matter increasing over the years and nitrogen dioxide levels way above permissible limits. It is a known fact that the transport sector is a major contributor to air pollution in the city with the vehicular population inching towards 50 lakh vehicles on the roads. Ozone, carbon, ions, molecular markers of particulate matter, sulphates are significantly high at many locations were studies have been conducted. In…

Sincere thanks to Rotary Bangalore South Parade for the citation presented to PNLIT.         In you we find a crusader in saving the environment and water bodies in Bangalore.  Against all odds you have relentlessly worked to revive a dead lake and brought Puttenahalli lake to full life with water, flora fauna, fish and birds.   We the President, Board of Directors and Members of Rotary Bangalore South Parade on this day of July 4 2014 recognize your contribution to the residents of Bangalore City for enhancing the quality of life.    Usha and Nupur represented PNLIT…

The cleaning session at Arekere (Dorsani Palya) Reserve Forest on Sunday 29th June 2014 had many of the morning walkers join the effort. The extra hands really helped the volunteers (who have pledged their support to the clean-up campaign) do more than they had expected.    However it was noticed that apart from plastic, a lot of rubbish, including wet waste, gets thrown from the road, over the compound wall. People are using this like a road side garbage dump! For a proper clean-up of this part, the group decided to engage paid labour or rag pickers.   The forest is known…

Consider this. Bengaluru is the first city in India to drink treated water. Bangalore has the highest density of borewells. It is home to 4 lakh borewells; India has about 30 million across the country. Bangalore has the largest number of Sewage Treatment Plants; this includes those that are functional and nonfunctional. And this. Bangalore was once home to over 900 lakes and tanks. Today the number stands at a meagre 200. Bangalore is likely to be the first city in India that will hit critical ceilings on water availability. There is a possibility that Bangalore will have to be…

Heaps of garbage piled in Mandur. Pic: Shree D N If you see the above scene in Mandur that is the ugly backyard of namma Bengaluru, what strikes you as the most important waste category? Most of what you see is plastic. This is the reality that you see even in the garbage dump near your home. Well, what’s wrong with that? Plastic bags make carrying everything simple, with their light weight and ease of use. After use, just throw them, and they’re out of sight and mind. Easy, isn’t it? But then, here are some issues for you to…

High Court of Karnataka (HC) suggested that BBMP make payments for tree-planting contracts only after monitoring the survival rate of the seedlings for an year after planting, to ensure that the seedlings planted are protected and maintained. In a suo motu PIL (WP No. 7288/2011) filed by former justice D V Justice Shylendra Kumar for  mass tree felling in Jayamahal Palace road in 2011 for widening the road, BBMP Advocate Subramanya R informed the court that the afforestation tenders for this year have already been awarded. Amicus curiae Vaishali Hegde pointed that the agreements that are already signed for this…

Ever-increasing traffic adds to pollution and emission. File pic. It is difficult to choose between a hot dry summer day and the day after a nice shower in Bengaluru, when it comes to the concentration of pollutants in the air. On a hot day, the air currents disperse the pollutants high up into the atmosphere, while on a day after the showers, because of the increase in humidity levels the fumes from vehicle exhaust pipes remain closer to ground level. In Bangalore, several environmental issues have attained the status of omnipresent and instead of figuring out a solution to mitigate…

Over the last few months, several jobs related to the rejuvenation of Allalasandra Lake have progressed. Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA), the association that has been working closely with the BBMP for this lake has had multiple meetings with Government officials and BWSSB for stoppage of sewage entering  the lake through storm water drains. The short term solution in place is a huge sand bund to stop sewage entering the lake. For the long term, BWSSB has agreed to provide a mini Sewage Treatment Plant for which the DPR work is going on. Pics courtesy Jagadeesh, YUVA The horticulture and pathway…