Environment

Press release on the "Namma Kere, Namma Bengaluru" Workshop (provided by Save Bangalore Lakes Trust) Bangalore today is sitting on a silent time bomb of depleting and degrading quality of sources of water. One of the solutions lies in restoration of lakes for recharging its ground water, meeting water needs of the city and also in keeping its climate cool. Save Bangalore Lake Trust (SBLT) is a group of concerned citizens working for restoration, protection and maintenance of lakes in Bangalore. It aims to bring different lake groups or trusts in Bangalore on a common platform for a joint initiative,…

One or two years ago, the trees right opposite my house were alive with birds - Red-Whiskered Bulbuls,white-Cheeked Barbets, Purple-Rumped Sunbirds, Mynas, Koels and Pale-Billed Flowerpeckers. It was a sense of hapiness to see them in the morning, flitting from one branch to the other - especially the Bulbul pair, and the Mynas. Now, in 2013, they have all gone. Disappeared. Only a few Mynas and the occasional Koel show up. Rarely do I hear those beautiful calls of the birds I loved the most; the city's most common avian residents. Are these birds heading for the same fate as…

While the government and the BBMP seem to be boasting of making Bangalore garbage-free under Kasamukta Bengaluru, the ground reality is far different. Though there seems to be slight there is slight improvement in some areas, most areas in Bangalore remain neglected. Garbage - dry, wet, organic, inorganic, medical, degradable, non-degradable - everything can be seen littered across the city. The garbage mounds in the landfills never stop increasing. On an average, a ward generates 2-3 tons of dry waste, per day. And if locals are to be believed, around 80% of this waste is thrown in the landfills. Waste…

"A success story from your own city. For 2014, please make this your calendar, all you corporates, entrepreneurs and business leaders from Bangalore. I assure you that all the skimpy models, the invasive flowers AND the exotic cagebirds will be happy you made this choice." - Bijoy Venugopal, Journalist at Yahoo PNLIT has recently released its desk top calendar for 2014. The calendar features world standard photographs of 12 different birds, one to delight you every month of the year. All the photographs have been taken at Puttenahalli Lake in JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bangalore, by our local photo-enthusiasts, the PNLIT…

“People just don’t care! There is no sense of civic responsibility. People just want the waste out of their houses”. This I heard from almost every informant I talked to. In this article, I want to share some of my findings during the past two and a half month I have been here in Bengaluru. I came to India for the first time in 2008 and found the country enchanting but also overwhelming. I wanted to come back again and so I did - three times more since then. This time I am here to do a research for my…

Having spent the last couple of months speaking to the residents of Sadashivanagar, convincing them to begin segregating their garbage, I once again joined the pourakarmikas on their Saturday dry-waste collection drive to note what impact my efforts had on apathetic residents, and to adjudge how much more I would have to do to help realise the dream of 100% collection.  The pourakarmikas – who by now had grown accustomed to my company – greeted me with smiles and waves. They informed me that the drive would start a few minutes late due to the early-morning rain which had dampened…

Not so early in the morning, I look down from my third floor apartment. There’s a lady sweeping the dead-end road. I know her, though I don’t know her name. She wears the official BBMP coat and she collects garbage from each of the apartment building. Sometimes I see her, while walking, from a car and smile and wave at her. She smiles back. A beautiful, cheery smile, but with an edge of self-consciousness. As if unused to be smiled at. As if unacknowledged as a human by those who live in apartments. (Pic for representation only. Can’t find the…

If you are concerned about Bangalore's lakes, then this is one event you do not want to miss. SBLT's workshop "Namma Kere, Namma Bengaluru" (originally scheduled for 10th November) is now on 30th November 2013, at Senate Hall, Central College.  To facilitate planning, kindly register at  http://goo.gl/SYoEpC  to confirm your participation. More details are in the poster below.   Agenda provided by SBLT

On November 9, 2013, Whitefield residents got a unique opportunity to learn about sharing space with wildlife. A group of 20 enthusiastic residents assembled at the clubhouse of Waterville apartments, to attend the first ever session on Wildlife conservation with a focus on snakes. This session was part of a track that aims to help us to peacefully co-exist with our furry (and not so furry) animal friends. Conducted by Gerry Martin and Sumanth Madhav, the session addressed aspects of man-animal conflict, what one can do when encountering snakes, and the best ways to avoid these encounters. While children chatted among themselves…

As one walks into Silverend, Mohan and Priya Mascarenhas' 130-year-old heritage home,  the greenery around envelopes you. The fragrance of the flowering plants and the carefully laid out beds makes one halt in one's tracks to take in the breathtaking array of Nature's bounty that surrounds along the tiled pathway leading to the home. The soft sounds of wind chimes, the birds chirping and butterflies hovering around the flowers  take you to a bygone era. You will wonder if this is indeed a home in Urban Bengaluru. Silverend has also won awards for the Best Old Home from the Urban Arts Commission. Unconventional atractive designs…