Environment

To celebrate Earth Day (that is observed all over the world on 22nd April), PNLIT is happy to host an event called Dance at Dusk in association with the Snehadhara Foundation. The programme is being held on a Saturday to enable adults to participate along with their children.  Date: 26th April 2014 (Saturday) Time: 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Place: Puttenahalli Lake, at the gazebo     What is Dance at Dusk? Here's a brief note on the event from Snehadhara: Dance at Dusk We at Snehadhara believe that movements have inner meanings and purposes along with their outer expressive…

Low cost community leaf litter composting pilot project ready to take off in Malleshwaram. Pic: Shree D N Bangalore’s first low cost community leaf litter composting unit was inaugurated in Malleshwaram on April 24, 2014. Set in a roadside park on 8th Main Road before Yashwanthpur Circle, the project is a replication of an already-running model conceptualised by Ravi Kaushik, a resident of Malleshwaram, in his own frontyard. The project aims to compost the leaves that fall in a particular season in Bangalore. Come winter, the roads of Malleshwaram that have a good tree cover are filled with variety of…

Broken commodes decorated along the compound wall that separates Railway land from BBMP land and footpath... coconut fronds thrown casually everywhere... the parked vehicles meant for carrying the dead, a garbage pickup point which never seems to be empty... the ground attacked continuously by garbage burning and stagnant water and turned black... add to this the unbearable stench of dead and decaying animals that makes you run for life, and you know you are in the backyard of Malleshwaram — on 11th main, Railway parallel road. Unused Railway land has become a dump filled with weeds. The unkempt garbage-filled land…

File pic. Courtesy: Jayakrishnan On 21st April 2014, the Counsels of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) placed before the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna a compilation of tree planting activities in Bangalore. The document claims that during the years 2007-2013, the forest wing of the BBMP has planted 10,75,388 trees in the city and that on an average (across 6 years) 63.5% of the saplings have survived. The document was supplied as part of the suo moto proceedings initiated by the High Court in Writ Petition 7288/2011, responding to concerns over…

This election day in Bengaluru — Thursday, 17th April 2014 — the proof of whether you have done your duty will be on your left thumb! Yes, as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India, the indelible ink shall be applied on the left thumb of voters in Karnataka. Many of you may have decided whom you are going to vote for. For those who are undecided, or wanting to know more about the candidates, here are some links to help you choose or change your mind. What can our MPs do to protect Bangalore's lakes? A point…

Lake boundaries and fencing, sewage inflow, dry inlets, garbage dumping, encroaching hutments, weeds, funding for restoration and maintenance… These are some of the problems faced by Bangalore’s lakes. And these are problems that could be solved by the intervention of the municipality, local corporators and/ or MLAs. Can the MPs help?         "Lakes", as a part of the environment, finds mention in the Constitution of India. Article 51A Part IVA lists eleven Fundamental Duties of every citizen of India, and one of them reads as below. “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India… to protect and…

A well-functioning sewage treatment plant (STP) achieves two things – (1) it handles solid and liquid waste, which otherwise would pollute the earth, and enables its recycling (2) it is a source of usable water (effluent) and fertiliser (sludge). Unfortunately, the STP at Yelahanka New Town 5th Phase, achieves neither. Built by the BWSSB about 10 years ago, spread across 5 acres of land, the STP was supposed to treat about 3MLD. The treated water was to be let into Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake. However, despite huge investment, the STP has never been operated to treat sewage. Instead, the "Waste Water…

The linking of a waste-water treatment plant, a wetland and lake ecosystem could be one method of keeping our lakes full and recharging our aquifers. Jakkur Lake in north Bangalore is one such live example. Steps that have been taken for its revival have seen positive results, which have been documented in Aajwanthi's thesis "Towards a water sensitive city: The story of Jakkur Lake" here. BIOME has planned a visit to Jakkur Lake. Date: Sunday, 6th April 2014Time: 9.00 a.m. Meeting point: Gate of the Jakkur Wastewater Treatment Plant (http://wikimapia.org/4129931/Jakkur-Lake-Paradise-for-Birds )  The tour includes- the waste-water treatment plant- the wetland - the lake-…

The fire that raged through the lake on the 16th of March almost killed our spirit. By burning several of our trees, it had made a mockery of our effort to increase the green cover in the area. The sun's heat, rapidly evaporating the water in the lake, sapped our enthusiasm as well. Whatever little water was present was getting covered with the Salvinia Molesta. Our many efforts to mobilize skilled labour to remove the Salvinia were making no headway. Attempts to get more residents to strengthen our effort drew a blank as well and only our regular volunteers attended our recent…

True to his promise, the Upa Lokayukta Justice SB Majage visited Yelahanka’s Allalasandra Lake and Puttenahalli Lake on 30th March 2014. As reported earlier, a follow-up of his February inspection was due in the first week of April, but he made it before time. Local groups have been earnestly following up with LDA / Forest Department and BWSSB to resolve the problems faced by the two lakes:  - water quality degradation due to continuous inflow of sewage, through storm water drains, broken sewage chambers and a dysfunctional STP- foul smell- mosquito nuisance- contamination of water in neighbourhood wells and borewells. While…