Environment

Former Olympian, Nisha Millet and Kannada actress, Anu Prabhakar are true blue Bangaloreans. They, like many other Bangaloreans, have been brought up around the numerous trees that adorned the city. With time and urbanisation, the cityscape has taken a turn for the worse. Urban forests have given way to apartment complexes and tree-lined promenades have been turned into roads. Does this spell the end of Garden City? Not by a long shot; especially considering that Neralu is around the corner.   On February 8 and 9, Bangalore will witness an event that is the first of its kind. Neralu, the Bangalore Tree Festival will be…

Message received from Mr Jagadeesh Giri, Joint Secretary, Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA)   To involve the youth, students & local citizens in keeping Allalasandra Lake (Yelahanka) and locality clean, utilize the facilities provided by civic bodies, bring in awareness on environment, water conservation, and neat maintenance of the lake surroundings, YUVA has organized a Shramadaan program at the lake on 12th January 2014 at 7 a.m. on the occasion of National Youth Day to mark the 151th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.   YUVA has also engaged with the University of Agriculture Sciences, GKVK for collaborative efforts for revival and development of…

The India BirdRaces, supported by HSBC, is the largest and most popular birdwatching activity across India. The current season (November 2013 – March 2014), will see the event in 16 cities.    The Bangalore BirdRace 2014 is on Sunday 19th Jan 2014. Registrations, for teams of 4 members, are currently open. To register and for more information, click here.    This winter, Puttenahalli Lake has seen the the return of the migratory Garganeys from Europe/ West Asia. Lake visitors were thrilled to see a group of Garganey females at the lake on Christmas Day, and thereafter.   Garganeys at Puttenahalli Lake, Dec 2013 (Pics:…

Sweet Indrajao (Wrigtia tinctoria) is a small, deciduous tree with flowers that look like snow flakes. Native to India and Burma, Wrightia is named after a Scottish physician and botanist William Wright. The leaves of this tree yield a blue dye called Pala Indigo. The wood of this tree is used for making Channapatna toys. The wood is suitable for matchboxes, bobbins, engraving and printing-blocks, mathematical instruments and rulers. It is also suitable for stained wood inlay-work. Medicinal uses: A survey conducted showed that tribal people in Chhattisgarh district control diabetes with their own drugs prepared from plant sources proving…

Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board has issued an order instructing M/s Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd / M/s Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd to stop the construction of the Special Economic Zone, residential and commercial buildings coming up on 72 acres of land that lies between Bellandur and Agara lakes, in South Bengaluru. Post the Upa Lokayukta’s comments on Mantri SEZ in a meeting held on December 20, 2013, KIADB’s 327th Board Meeting discussed the matter and passed an order directing Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd to stop the construction with immediate effect. According to the minutes of the KIADB Board meeting, the…

The Lake division of Bangalore Development Authority has handed over the lakes under its supervision to respective zonal engineers of BDA. The north and south lake divisions have been closed down, and have been merged with the BDA's Engineering Department. A BDA official, who didn't want to be named, said that BDA's lake division had 123 lakes to look after, but only five engineers. These five had to manage the execution of restoration plans. They also had to oversee the protection of these lakes spread all over the city and take action against encroachers, which was practically impossible. Hence the…

God knows Whitefield needs help. Therefore it may have been a wise move to have the next spot fix outside the historic Memorial Church. Dell brought an enthusiastic team out while Brigade sponsored the civil work. BESCOM ensured folks were safe and powered down the transformer(sorry if you were affected) while BBMP and BTP did their bit. Whitefield Club opened their gates for the transit area and the team got cracking. As always, magic happens when the atmosphere is charged with such positivity and energy. People get creative, work hard in a team and get the job done. Of special…

  Construction work on Bellandur wetlands continues unabated. Pic: Nikita Malusare Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike issued an order to M/s Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd. (Mantri Techzone Private Limited) directing the latter to stop the construction of the 72-acre project coming up on the wetland between Agara and Bellandur lakes in Bengaluru. This order comes after the Karnataka Upa Lokayukta rapped BBMP on the continuance of construction activities in spite of the lack of proper approvals from BBMP. The order, from the BBMP Commissioner Lakshminarayan, a copy of which with Citizen Matters, directed the Bommanahalli Zonal Joint Commissioner to act immediately to…