Environment

With so many butterflies flocking to our Puttenahalli lake of late, it seems appropriate to get experts to identify them and take good pix of these fleeting, flighty beauties.      In June came Ms. Chinmayi, a lepidopterist from Banashankari and she photographed and identified quite a few of the butterflies. Read about her visit here.   Last week Dr. Kunal Angola and Naveen, research scholars from the Butterfly Park at Bannerghatta spent a good two hours at the lake. Their visit opened our eyes to more of these pretties.    Butterflies don't really need exotic plants. The common weed Tridax (Coat…

Apartment associations that received their water bills for June 2013 were in for a shock. Their water bills were two to three times more than what they had been paying! Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) had increased the charges for bulk consumers as per a notification in the Karnataka Gazette dated 23rd May 2013, but most apartment association representatives and residents were not aware of either the new charges, or of the impact of the amendment in tariff, till they received the bills.  According to the new tariff rules, for Bulk Domestic Consumers i.e. High-rise/Multistoried Buildings/ Apartments/ Central and…

Ever so often, somebody makes the statement – that we need to have a right to water. You can substitute water with education, food, health or any other resource-dependent ‘right’ — the arguments are quite similar: that not enough people have sufficient access to it, that the lack of availability of the right was a fundamental human indignity, that it was likely against the fundamental right to life guaranteed by the constitution, and that it was high time the state did something about it. For better or worse, this has now resulted in Right to Education legislation, and will likely…

Yelahanka Lake, covering 292 acres is one of the largest lakes in Bangalore, under the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Home to many birds, ornithologist Dr Subramanya recorded as many as 33 species during a one-hour visit to the lake in November 2012. About 14 acres of the lake was encroached by illegal buildings and hutments, but over the past year, in multiple operations, the BBMP has successfully evicted the encroachers, regained possession of the property, and is now looking to restore it.  Yelahanka Lake and the neighbouring Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake To initiate the restoration, the BBMP…

Bangalore has always been in news internationally for its software sector. Now it is the turn of lakes of Bangalore to draw international attention, pollution being the main reason. A San Francisco-based NGO, Sherwood Institute, focussing on water, energy and ecological infrastructure for cities, is collaborating with Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to revive the dying lakes and watershed areas in Bangalore. Sherwood has invited public inputs on their site: See Better Lakes, Better Bangalore. The first watershed which is proposed to be revived with this scheme is the Bellandur watershed. Its catchment area, spread across 140 sq kms, includes Bellandur…

When we are scared of creatures, we often don’t look closely at them... and so miss out on seeing how beautiful they can be. We often categorise a lot of insects as “bugs” and try to stomp on them! However, beetles are slightly different from bugs. Click here to find the major differences between bugs and beetles. We can observe beetles closely in our own gardens... but be careful in handling them. Some are harmless, but others can pack a wallop! Here is a Blister Beetle.This is called so because touching it alarms the creature, and it releases a fluid…

Restoration work at the Munnekolala Lake in the AECS Layout near Marathahalli began about three months ago, but not before several months of pursuing the BBMP, the custodian of the lake, to save it. The AECS Layout actually has a set of three lakes, known to residents as the “Chinnappanahalli lakes”. The Munnekolala Lake, at 15.38 acres is the largest of them. The smaller 11.33 acre Chinnappanahalli Lake (located behind CMRIT College) was already restored by the BBMP in around 2010 and is currently being looked after by the Chinnappanahalli Lake Development Trust. The third lake, according to area residents…

Several years of efforts by Koramangala citizens bore fruit on Friday, 12-July-2013 when a Bhoomi Puja was held to mark the start of re-development work on Meistripalya Lake in Koramangala. Bhoomi puja for Meistripalya Lake re-development, by BTM Layout MLA Ramalinga Reddy, Koramangala corporator Kokila Radhakrishna and other officials. Pic: Srinivas The work, estimated to cost Rs 175 lakhs, is based on a  Detailed Project Report (DPR), developed by the BDA and Lake Development Authority using inputs furnished by Koramangala citizens. Over the years, a number of elected representatives and officials have played a major role in bringing the project…

Subramanyapura Uttarahalli Lake Improvement Trust (SUNLIT) is trying to clean up the Kalyani (temple tank) situated next to Vasanthapura Sai Baba Temple, Subramanyapura (South Bangalore).    ***** Phanisai Bharadwaj, Managing Trustee of SUNLIT invites citizens to join the effort...    Dear friends, Lake chains, not just lakes.Because of the valleys on which Bangalore is located, the lakes cascade naturally from higher elevation to lower elevation. As the lake on the higher elevation filled up, water would flow into the lower lakes. Bangalore has three main valley systems: Hebbal, Koramangala-Challaghatta, Vrishabhavati. The lakes thereby form a chain of reservoirs in each…

Bangalore has always been home to many locals and migrants. But this welcoming nature now seems to have become a costly affair for its residents. While  the number of trees and lakes have reduced considerably, the number of vehicles and pollution levels in the city have increased considerably, which is posing major health hazards to people. However, a recent study conducted by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) reveals that the pollution level is the least during monsoons, and highest during winter. This study shows that the pollution level near CIty Railway station, which is at the centre of…