Environment

The word 'Rodent' usually makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up. We associate the word with rats and mice which we occasionally encounter near our homes and makes us reach out for our rat traps and rat poison. In our minds they are unwanted pests that need to be dealt with severely. The three-striped palm squirrel is a very adaptable species and have made their home in the urban environment. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. However there is one rodent that we find extremely cute and which lives in our close proximity. I am referring to the common…

Shramdan on Ambalipura (lower) lake bed started at around 9:45 am on Sunday, September 19th. Residents from our Bellandur ward started coming to the lake bund from 9 am. First to arrive at lake was special invitee Dr Ashwin Mahesh, Ramesh Sivaram from Rainbow Residency and Satheesh Amilineni from Green Glen Layout. The volunteers discussed for a while on how to tackle the weeds and which equipment to use. Ambalipura lakebed wedding in progress. Pic: Satheesh Amilineni. Soon, the volunteers got into lake bed at around 9:45am and started weeding. The plan was to start from one side and proceed…

  For those of us who are fortunate enough to live close to the ever-disappearing lakes of Bangalore, the onset of the rains bring with it a special chorus sung during the night. I am sure everyone is familiar with it. It seems that the perpetuators of this chorus are as joyous as we are for the arrival of life-giving rain. Each new shower of rain is welcomed with a fresh bout of calling. The unseen voice is that of the Indian Bull Frog. The Indian Bull Frog is an integral part of the ecosystem of any pond, well or…

The other day, my four-year-old asked for some salt and used lemon peels. "To clean a brass vessel", she told her surprised grandfather! For the next fifteen minutes she was at complete peace (as were the rest of us!) - polishing away till the vessel shone! Soapnut scrub. Pic: Vinita This set me thinking about how we had lost touch with so many such simple and natural solutions for home cleaning. So I tried to make a list of what I remembered and what I have tried to re-learn along the way. And to be sure, this is not about…

The recently concluded two-day national seminar on Organic Terrace Gardening at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Alumni Association Convention Centre, Hebbal was in all respects a great meeting point and a good start to a process that seeks to become a nation-wide movement. One of the primary objectives of organising such a seminar was to ensure that organic terrace gardening spreads as a movement across the country, rather than merely as a hobby or passion for a select few. There was also a need felt to bring together like-minded practitioners, individuals and institutions on a common platform and use…

Of the 35 lakes in Mahadevpura assembly constituency in northeast Bengaluru, 23 have become dysfunctional, according to a report authored by urban ecologist Dr Harini Nagendra, Ramesh Sivaram (member of resident association federation of Bellandur) and Dr S Subramanya (Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences). The report classifies seven lakes as ‘extremely polluted', another seven as ‘heavily polluted, drying' and nine lakes as ‘completely dry'. Only 10 ten lakes are categorised as healthy while two are under restoration. Bengaluru-based Harini is also co-author of papers with US-based political scientist Elinor Ostrom, Nobel prize winner for Economics in 2009. Harini Nagendra,…

How many of us realise that they might be a bloodsucker at large in our gardens? Don't panic, this is just our Common Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) which most of us mistakenly call ‘chameleon'. During the breeding season the head, shoulders and parts of the foreleg of the males turns bright scarlet and this is how they have acquired this rather 'derogatory' name - Bloodsucker. The Chameleon is a totally different species, well-known for its ability to change colour to match its surroundings. The Common Garden Lizard. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa The Common Garden Lizard is the most common Agamid lizard…

Snake! The very word seems to evoke a feeling of terror in the mind of the average person; but if one has better knowledge of these creatures, one can see that much of the dread is misplaced. Here are some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about snakes, answered by P Gowirshankar, a herpetologist who has been actively associated with the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), which has had the only telemetry project for tracking the King Cobra in that region. Gowrishankar is at present located in Bangalore, pursuing his doctoral studies. The Spectacled Cobra has a distinctly visible black mark in…

I am fortunate to live on Cookson Road in east Bangalore. It is well-shaded with an excellent density of roadside trees. My apartment block is in a cul-de-sac and my immediate neighbor is a lady well-known for having the best garden in the city .In front of her bungalow (the last few remaining in the area) is a Lantana bush which is visited by a lot of butterflies, one of which happens to be the Common Banded Awl. The Common Banded Awl belongs to the family of butterflies called Hesperiidae, commonly known as Skippers. This is the third largest family…

Vinay Chandra is a man with a mission. What started off as a personal interest in nature, farming and organic agriculture, has for the last year become a zealous drive to help more and more city dwellers like you and me to make our own little patch of green. Square foot garden. Pic courtesy: Vinay Chandra. Before starting his initiative to help set up kitchen gardens, Chandra did a lot of ground work. He spent a lot of time with with organic farmers and activists and read a lot on organic farming. He visited many organic farms in and around…