Environment

The first meeting of Eco-volunteers (those who took the Volunteer Training Program, or VTP), was held at ThoughtWorks, Koramangala, Bangalore, on 120414. It was as if Ganesha, the Elephant God, had waited in the foyer with a gesture of benison!     Raju KV took up the job of co-ordinating the meet, and conducting it:     Over 40 people turned up, showing their interest in volunteering for wildlife conservation:         Raju welcomed the gathering, and while the two Prasahanths set up their video presentation.     N C Mohan talked about patches of fragmented forest, which…

Lake boundaries and fencing, sewage inflow, dry inlets, garbage dumping, encroaching hutments, weeds, funding for restoration and maintenance… These are some of the problems faced by Bangalore’s lakes. And these are problems that could be solved by the intervention of the municipality, local corporators and/ or MLAs. Can the MPs help?         "Lakes", as a part of the environment, finds mention in the Constitution of India. Article 51A Part IVA lists eleven Fundamental Duties of every citizen of India, and one of them reads as below. “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India… to protect and…

Lake boundaries and fencing, sewage inflow, dry inlets, garbage dumping, encroaching hutments, weeds, funding for restoration and maintenance… These are some of the problems faced by Bangalore’s lakes. And these are problems that could be solved by the intervention of the municipality, local corporators and/ or MLAs. Can the MPs help?         "Lakes", as a part of the environment, finds mention in the Constitution of India. Article 51A Part IVA lists eleven Fundamental Duties of every citizen of India, and one of them reads as below. “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India… to protect and…

An INTACH walk took some of us to Avenue road last Saturday with Lathasshree KS, an archaeologist who unearthed for us the Avenue road of old times. We saw that morning a beautiful past that had been preserved for centuries, low-relief deities in the ground or a nandi that was partly submerged. One step at a time, we moved from the contemporary urban chaos to the ancient serene landscape of shrines, snake stones and peepul trees. The axial symmetry of Chikpete If we look at the map of the fort or Pettah area, there are two axes – the N-S…

An INTACH walk took some of us to Avenue road last Saturday with Lathasshree KS, an archaeologist who unearthed for us the Avenue road of old times. We saw that morning a beautiful past that had been preserved for centuries, low-relief deities in the ground or a nandi that was partly submerged. One step at a time, we moved from the contemporary urban chaos to the ancient serene landscape of shrines, snake stones and peepul trees. The axial symmetry of Chikpete If we look at the map of the fort or Pettah area, there are two axes – the N-S…

A well-functioning sewage treatment plant (STP) achieves two things – (1) it handles solid and liquid waste, which otherwise would pollute the earth, and enables its recycling (2) it is a source of usable water (effluent) and fertiliser (sludge). Unfortunately, the STP at Yelahanka New Town 5th Phase, achieves neither. Built by the BWSSB about 10 years ago, spread across 5 acres of land, the STP was supposed to treat about 3MLD. The treated water was to be let into Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake. However, despite huge investment, the STP has never been operated to treat sewage. Instead, the "Waste Water…

A well-functioning sewage treatment plant (STP) achieves two things – (1) it handles solid and liquid waste, which otherwise would pollute the earth, and enables its recycling (2) it is a source of usable water (effluent) and fertiliser (sludge). Unfortunately, the STP at Yelahanka New Town 5th Phase, achieves neither. Built by the BWSSB about 10 years ago, spread across 5 acres of land, the STP was supposed to treat about 3MLD. The treated water was to be let into Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake. However, despite huge investment, the STP has never been operated to treat sewage. Instead, the "Waste Water…

The linking of a waste-water treatment plant, a wetland and lake ecosystem could be one method of keeping our lakes full and recharging our aquifers. Jakkur Lake in north Bangalore is one such live example. Steps that have been taken for its revival have seen positive results, which have been documented in Aajwanthi's thesis "Towards a water sensitive city: The story of Jakkur Lake" here. BIOME has planned a visit to Jakkur Lake. Date: Sunday, 6th April 2014Time: 9.00 a.m. Meeting point: Gate of the Jakkur Wastewater Treatment Plant (http://wikimapia.org/4129931/Jakkur-Lake-Paradise-for-Birds )  The tour includes- the waste-water treatment plant- the wetland - the lake-…

The linking of a waste-water treatment plant, a wetland and lake ecosystem could be one method of keeping our lakes full and recharging our aquifers. Jakkur Lake in north Bangalore is one such live example. Steps that have been taken for its revival have seen positive results, which have been documented in Aajwanthi's thesis "Towards a water sensitive city: The story of Jakkur Lake" here. BIOME has planned a visit to Jakkur Lake. Date: Sunday, 6th April 2014Time: 9.00 a.m. Meeting point: Gate of the Jakkur Wastewater Treatment Plant (http://wikimapia.org/4129931/Jakkur-Lake-Paradise-for-Birds )  The tour includes- the waste-water treatment plant- the wetland - the lake-…

The fire that raged through the lake on the 16th of March almost killed our spirit. By burning several of our trees, it had made a mockery of our effort to increase the green cover in the area. The sun's heat, rapidly evaporating the water in the lake, sapped our enthusiasm as well. Whatever little water was present was getting covered with the Salvinia Molesta. Our many efforts to mobilize skilled labour to remove the Salvinia were making no headway. Attempts to get more residents to strengthen our effort drew a blank as well and only our regular volunteers attended our recent…