Environment

Bangles made out of leftover woollen threads and plastic flowers. Earrings made from old silk sarees and paper chips. Cute Indian breed puppies for adoption. Stalls full of second-hand clothes, bags and shoes for reusing. The West calls it the yard sale, we call it - ‘Reuse and Recycle mela’!After a successful fourth edition of the flea market, the fifth edition turned out to be even better. AICOBOO Grounds in BTM 1st Stage saw large participation from the buyers as well as the sellers. Around 50 sellers participated while the mela saw over 700 visitors during the day.  Upcycled wine…

In a landmark decision, A S Sadashivaiah, Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), has directed BBMP and Ramky Infrastructure Pvt ltd, the private operator of landfill, to immediately stop dumping waste in Mavallipura landfill. This comes a week after BBMP handed over an acceptance letter to Ramky for setting up a power plant which produce power out of waste at Mavallipura landfill. Combust making technology at Mavallipura landfill. Pic: Sankar C G “Stop the supply of waste by BBMP to the Mavallipura Landfill site, at survey number eight, Hesaraghatta Hobli, Bangalore North, immediately till the entire accumulated waste is…

It's now official. The TCS World 10K 2012 Bangalore raised about Rs 3.06 crores for 84 NGOs that were registered with Bangalore Cares, the official charity partner for the event. Releasing the charity docket on 11th July 2012, Mr Murray Culshaw of Bangalore Cares said that this international race has emerged as the best platform for NGOs in Bangalore to create awareness about their cause and to raise funds for their work.     This was the first time that PNLIT participated in a fund raising event and we are happy that we could raise Rs 37,301/-. While some of the donations came through the…

Citizen Matters in association with ‘Second to none’ (220) is organising a ‘Reuse and Recycle mela’ this weekend at BTM Layout. 220 is an online community focused on the concept of Reduce-Recycle-Reduce waste. Flea market, last year. File pic The flea market on Sunday, July 15th, will provide a platform to buy second hand and upcycled articles. Upcycling refers to converting useless or waste into valuable products. There will be a bit of everything from used books, electronic items, clothes and home decor knick knacks. ‘Don't discard, reuse, don’t throw, recycle’ will be the buzz phrase this weekend. 11 am…

Sadly, it's only when some people leave the scene that one is moved to write about the immense worth of their lives and work. Though I had met Dr Joseph George (1st October 1921 - 9th July 2012), it was only when he passed away, that I realised that I could have documented this doyen of ornithology in Bangalore, much earlier.Dr Joseph George got the first rank in his bachelor's degree, studying at St Joseph's College, Trichy, and went on to continue his studies at Agra University, with a scholarship. He later completed his doctoral degree. Dr Joseph George. Pic:…

The monsoon rains are delayed this year. But by sheer coincidence, BBMP’s rainwater harvesting plans of last year remain unimplemented, almost as if the monsoons were granting their own extension to BBMP, ominously. What’s worse, a Citizen Matters inquiry revealed that the city’s accounts department declined to release funds due to the engineers’ lack of interest. Bengaluru faces a shortage of 410 MLD (megalitre water per day) of water. The average rainfall here is 923 mms within a geographical area of 800 sq kms.  It is in this context by seeing the potential of RWH, BBMP made implementation of rainwater…

With the city’s growing water woes, rainwater harvesting has come into focus time and again. It was also made compulsory in Bangalore by law. The BWSSB (Amendment) Act passed in August 2009, states that every owner or occupier of a building having a sital area of 2,400 sqft and above, or every owner who proposes to construct a building on a sital area of 1,200 sqft and above, should install rainwater harvesting structures. Following the law and various awareness exercises conducted in the city, it appears that RWH installation pace has picked up much more compared to earlier years. The…

Most of the lakes in Bangalore have vanished due to encroachment or construction activity. Arakere lake, one of Bengaluru’s biggest lakes may become a thing of past which has almost dried up due to negligence and is totally overrun by weed. Arakere lake's current state. Pic: Anuradha Janga Arekere lake may disappear if nothing is done immediately. Hence four residents in the vicinity have formed a trust - ‘Arakere Neighbourhood Improvement Trust’ (ANIT) to spread awareness and engage the residents in rejuvenating Arakere lake. The trust was registered on June 30th, 2012. “We formed the group keeping in mind two…

The water situation has never been so grim in Whitefield. In the past eight years of my stay here, I have seen water supply dwindle down from twice a week to once in ten days. From February this year, there has been no water supply at all. There are deviations in the original water pipelines leading to communities and apartments. Residents get this done by bribing the linemen. I spoke to K Nagaraj Hoodi, Assistant Engineer, BWSSB (East) about the inequitable water supply and the corruption which is enabling water supply to certain communities alone. Hoodi gave an excuse that…

Last year, BBMP initiated a plan to install Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) pits in roadside drains, parks etc,. to improve ground water levels. Rs 30 crore was approved for installing pits across the city, from emergency funds. Emergency funds are allocated as per BBMP Commissioner’s discretion, and is separate from funds specifically given for RWH in the budget. But going by BBMP’s plans, much of this amount might simply be wasted. An RWH pit built along a drain in 27th Main, Jayanagar 9th Block. File Pic The project is supposed to be implemented as per the design made by RWH expert…