Environment

Does one call it a lake or a pond? Perhaps it may be better to just refer to it as a “kere” or a water body, since it was clearly once a lake that, over time, became a pond and is now steadily shrinking in size. Some people call it “Arey kere”, others as “Puttanahalli puttkere” to differentiate it from the much bigger Puttanhalli Lake. Call it what you will, this kere is fighting a losing battle for survival - like other water bodies in Bengaluru, like the tall shady trees now being chopped down on one pretext or the…

On 20th March this year, TiE Bangalore presented the TiE Earth Hour celebration, a prelude to celebrating Earth Hour (a worldwide eco-initiative held on 28th March between 8.30 PM and 9.30 PM IST). Organised by the TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Bangalore Special Interest Group (SIG) on CleanTech, the programme began with a brief introduction by Ashok Das who has co-established and spearheads CleanTech SIG. Das is also the CEO of SunMoksha Power that designs and implements solar applications and solutions. CleanTech SIG was launched in June 2008 with the aim of establishing an ecosystem for clean technology and to provide…

White egg-shaped brinjal, orange-yellow round type, red ones, single Brinjal weighing more than 2 kg, small marble-sized ones  - all in all, about 50 varieties of brinjal were on display at the ‘Brinjal diversity Mela’ at Lalbagh on 5th April. Some of these brinjal varieties are rarely cultivated and thus rarely available. This event was an effort to reach out to the public and farmers to inform them about the diversity of a species, educate them about effects of ‘Genetically Modified food technology’. The fest saw notable guests, including film actress Tara and artist MS Murthy and included informative talks…

Brinjal, badanekayi, the king of vegetables comes with its own crown! Let's revisit the world of Brinjal and explore it's amazing diversity! It is a celebration of the diversity of brinjals and to contemplate our role in protecting it. Good Food, healthy food, safe food... should be a primary concern for all of us. The Brinjal festival to be held at Lalbagh is an attempt to bring a better consciousness and respect for our rich diverse food. Genetically Modified (GM) food crops pose a grave threat to the diversity and to our health as consumers. Let us all make informed…

As you take a walk around Madiwala Lake, you will see that this area needs some help. And that’s what Murali Ramnath, cyclist and resident of BTM Layout thought too. Ramnath is a member of RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation that encourages and promotes sustainable transport through cycling. It was this passion for cycling that got Ramnath and the foundation to do a preliminary study and propose a plan to build a cycling track and a pedestrian path around Madiwala Lake. Murali Ramnath, member, RideACycle Foundation (Pic: Meera K) On 31st January, the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority…

Expecting a big crowd on an early Sunday morning to discuss plans to clean up a lake may seem a bit far-fetched. But for those of us who did attend the event at Madiwala Lake on 22nd March, it was a learning experience. The event was organised by Arghyam, a public charitable foundation working in the water sector, in association with RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), a Bangalore-based, non-profit organisation that encourages and promotes sustainable transport and Sampada, an online Kannada community. Marking World Water Day, this event was held to raise awareness about the state of this 280 acre lake, by…

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of fresh water resources. An international day to celebrate fresh water was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. Infrequent BWSSB water supply. (Illustration: Madhu Ramaswamy) It is an irony that in Bangalore, water gets significantly more expensive the poorer you get. Water is a subsidized commodity for those who…

The response to the first edition of the series ‘Birds of Bangalore’ was extremely encouraging, and so here is the next part.  In this series we take a closer look at some of the birds in our backyard. In deference to reader’s feedback, a few tips on bird watching have also been included at the end of the article which is sure to help one get started and develop the hobby. Areas to sight it around Bangalore: It is fond of well watered areas. So the best places to sight it are Lalbagh, Cubbon park, Hebbal and Madivala lakes. The…

Disgustingly Cool Books for Kids. Hearing the title, I was certainly curious to know more. I decided to meet Poonam Bir Kasturi (founder of Daily Dump, which offers home composting solutions in Bengaluru through a range of services and products), the person responsible for these publications. The sleek set of five booklets, published by Daily Dump, introduces concepts of environment-friendliness, waste, sustainability, consumerism et cetera to children in an interesting and engaging manner. Disgustingly Cool books for kids (Pic: Vinitha) Poonam firmly believes product design must always intersect with sustainability. The primary design consideration for this set of books was…

The phrase “environment-friendly printing” could be defined as an oxymoron, just like “genuine fake” or “happily married”. If you want to protect the environment, you should not be printing – plain and simple! Everything about printing is harmful to the environment – the toner or inks, the media or printing substrates and more than both of these put together, the waste generated through printing. Print waste (Pic courtesy: Lalana Zaveri) But print communication is a necessity in today’s market-based economy. By one estimate, the size of the digital print market in Bangalore itself is between Rs.80-100 crores per year. So…