Environment

The layout has 23 wells with an average holding capacity of 4000 litres each. We have been recharging 4.5 million litres into the ground with rainwater harvesting, with about 50 rainy days in a year. Ferns Paradise is a 48 acre layout, in Whitefield, consisting of around 300 residential plots. The residents are completely dependent on groundwater. Realizing the importance of having a sustainable water resource, the WMC, constituted by the Layout’s Resident Welfare Association (RWA) comprising people passionate about water conservation - Babita Saxena, Radhica Kanniganti and Rajesh Thakkar. The WMC has made it mandatory for all the new…

Have you ever wondered how important colours are, in the world of Nature, around us?Colour is often a way of attracting attention; for these flowers, it is their bright colours that attract bees which will pollinate them, and propagate their species. Colourful flowers. Pic: Deepa Mohan For animals and birds, too, colour is a way of saying, “Here I am!” Nothing depicts colour better than the prismatic plumage of the peacock, flaunting his wonderful tail: The peahen, presumably, chooses the most colourful peacock to be with. Peacock with tail. Pic: Deepa Mohan  Sometimes, colour helps the creature hide instead of…

Greenpeace activists today installed a billboard in front of the Indian head office of Apple here in Bengaluru asking the company to "Clean our Cloud". The activists along with Apple customers urged the head of Apple India to communicate their demands to the top bosses at Apple. Activists also interacted with the Apple customers across the city making them aware of how the company is using dirty coal to power its iCloud and is thereby party to destructive mountain top removal coal mining. Billboard in front the Apple head office in Bengaluru The activists met the Country PR Manager, Apple India,…

The Ecofreaks are at it again, this time doing a cleanup in Ejipura, Koramangala 6th Block, on a bridge over a drain that was dotted with garbage.This particular cleanup was on an incredibly busy stretch in Koramangala, surrounded by Paying Guest houses and it seemed like nobody cared about the combined stench of the sewage river below and the garbage heap above. Perhaps this indifferent attitude inspired Vasudha Kaul and Ashutosh Garg to clean the area up, and make the place easier on the eyes as well as on the nose. Before clean up. Pic Gaana Srinivas  The cleanup began…

Which one of us has not watched the house sparrows as they hop about, living their lives alongside us humans in our rural or urban homes? House sparrows (their scientific name is Passer domesticus, the very name saying that they are a part of our domestic lives!) are small and pretty birds which play a large role in our lives, though we are often not aware of this. Male House Sparrow. Pic: Wikimedia commons Can you imagine, these birds are supposed to have become associated with humans nearly 10,000 years ago! Stunning, isn't it?Sparrows prefer a hole to nest in,…

In a city of vanishing lakes, PNLIT is a small team of ordinary citizens who campaigned successfully to rejuvenate Puttenahalli Lake in J.P. Nagar and has now become its official caretakers. PNLIT's goals are to recharge the water table, indirectly providing water for an increasingly parched locality and to transform the lake into a secure bird habitat though in the middle of an urban jungle. Within two years of restoration, over 200 tree saplings have been planted and over 50 bird species spotted in and around the lake. PNLIT meets expenses from voluntary donations, mostly from residents in the area.…

Brief background: Spark the Rise is a platform built by Mahindra "for ordinary people to take charge of India's future". Anyone with a plan could submit it to http://www.sparktherise.com/ to get volunteers, advice or donations. From August 2011 to March 2012, 1346 projects were posted on the site. For six months, Mahindra awarded monthly grants of Rs 4 lakh each, to 8 outstanding projects. "PNLIT - Nurturing Puttenahalli Lake back to its pristine glory" was one such awardee, and one of the 18 projects in the Grand Finale, where additional grants were at stake.   20th April 2012 was an eventful day for the Spark…

The Karnataka High Court cancelled the lease of Agara lake in HSR Layout given to Biota Natural Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd on February 29, 2012. Biota had filed a petition against the termination of lease of Agara lake by Lake Development (LDA) in 2009. Following the High Court judgment, the lake has been handed back to the LDA, Bangalore. The under-maintained Agara lake, adjacent to HSR Layout, off the outer ring road. Pic: Anisha NairThe judgement from high courtBiota contested LDA's termination of its contract in its petition. Biota claims that they could not take up any development work on…

This Sunday’s Second to None flea market event, will have a bit of everything from used books, electronic items, furniture and home decor knick knacks. You can also pick up handmade and homemade items from paper jewellery to jams, cakes and more.Let us recycle and re-use, replenish, restore and rethink, why throw away used things you no longer want when you can sell them? This is the buzz in town this weekend, 22nd April, 2012, 11 am-5 pm at ‘Jaaga’, Double Road, Opposite Corporation Bank, Behind KH Road Bus Stand. File pic: Second To None. Anupama Gummaraju, along with her…

One cool morning in February 2012, I drove up across town to Hesaraghatta Lake. As we approached the embankment, my excitement rose and I ran up the steps. They had told me it was big. What I had not realized was just how big this lake was. I could not see the edges on the far side. All 3000 acres of it used to brim with water, fed by the Arkavati River. That day, it was dry. Bone dry. For the first time in seven years there was no water in Hesaraghatta Lake. And, unfortunately, this was no exaggeration. Hesarghatta…