Environment

Praying Mantis camouflaged. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. A couple of weeks ago I found myself spending my mornings at the Indian Christian Cemetery on Hosur Road. My daughter Tara’s school is next to the cemetery and I have often photographed a variety of butterflies, birds and squirrels while waiting for her to finish. One day I decided to spend my mornings wandering around the cemetery instead of coming home and then returning to pick her up. The cemetery has a lot of green cover with flowering shrubs and large trees. At least this part of the green cover in Bengaluru will…

The second Sunday bird watch at Lalbagh with BNG birders was a new experience. Of course every visit has something new. New topics, information, friends, lot more...It was very interesting to see little children so actively involved, interested in knowing and understanding about birds. How do we observe birds, animals behaviors, their calls, types of nests and which trees, flower they visit etc. How often do the birds visit here or how many reside permanently. There is no end if we go deep in observation. We saw them and keep on clicking our camera. And the Lalbagh small lake never…

With the ban of thin plastic bags coming into force from 15th March 2011, Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) cloth shopping bags are in the market. It is said that one reusable bag eliminates an average of a 1000 plastic bags. Anand, one of the owners of Fresh Greens, with the bags. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. When the ban was first announced a few weeks ago, some of the shops on Puttenahalli Road had approached PNLIT members for the supply of cloth bags that can be sold in their shops. About the same time last year, some of us who were concerned…

Did you know that 50,000 people die of venomous snakebites in India every year? Deaths that could be averted if people had access to an effective anti-venom cure. This was one of many startling discoveries at the end of the screening of A Million Snakebites by the Gerry Martin project at the British Council. The Gerry Martin Project is an initiative for wildlife conservation and education, spearheaded by Bangalore based Gerry Martin. In this film made for the BBC, reptile conservationist Rom Whitaker travels across India, from Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan to Assam, collecting snake venom in an effort to…

The Bangalore East Railway Station is very close to my house and very often I find myself walking along the railway tracks looking for butterflies and other urban wildlife. The bushes and shrubs along the line are a haven for urban wildlife. One day among the bushes and shrubs, I happened to chance upon a familiar plant, almost like an old friend. It was the Milkweed. The Giant Milkweed. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. Milkweed is also known as French cotton, crown flower or bonba in Spanish is a soft wooded, evergreen shrub. Its long limbs hold six to eight-inch opposite leaves…

In the hope of bringing the once common house sparrow back to Bengaluru, Burhani Foundation (India) distributed 500 bird feeders at the Burhani Masjid in Gottigere, off Bannerghatta Road on 6th March. Across the country, fifty-two thousand bird feeders were distributed as a part of centenary celebrations of the birth of Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, Dai-al-Mutlaq (spiritual leader) of the Dawoodi Bohra community. His birthday falls on 6th March, according to the Gregorian calendar. People collecting the bird feeders from the judges of Limca and Guiness Book of World records. Pic: Yograj S Mudalgi The distribution was taken up in…

In a landmark ruling today, the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka accepted the Report of a committee it constituted to examine the ground realities and prepare an Action plan for the preservation of lakes in the city of Bangalore. This report was sought by an interim direction of Chief Justice Mr. J. S. Khehar and Justice A. S. Bopanna of the Principal Bench of the Hon’ble High Court on the basis of the Public Interest Litigation filed by Environment Support Group and Leo Saldanha (party in person) (WP No. 817/2008) challenging the privatisation of lakes in Bangalore by Lake Development…