Lakes

This edition of Kaikondrahalli Kere Habba enters its sixth year. Kere Habba is a sunrise to sunset event that celebrates the gorgeous Kaikondrahalli Lake. It hosts a variety of sessions ranging from fitness to traditional art and crafts, for adults and children alike - all talking the same idiom of ecology and environment. The day starts with a bird walk at 6am followed by a 5 km run on the jogging track around the lake. Special medals made of lake reeds will be awarded to all registered participants and finishers of the run apart from 5 lucky draw prizes. Kere…

It has been about three months since an update on the status of Iblur lake rejuvenation was shared. So here is one. As the picture suggests, there is water! That is a great news indeed. It is far from full, but to get to this point required a fair bit of work. Copious rains over the lake body were not enough. We had to find ways to clean up inlets of roadside drains that could feed the lake. We now have 4 such inlets and we will add a couple more once the current roadworks are complete. Here are some…

It was a show of creativity and colours in Whitefield on Saturday morning. As the sun and clouds played hide-and-seek, scores of children made a beeline for Nallurhalli lake to use their imagination and depict their natural surroundings. 'My Halli, My Lake', an initiative of Nallurhalli Rising, brought together more than 160 children, aged between three and sixteen years. Many students from Poorna Prajna International School were part of the enthusiastic crowd. The citizens’ group Whitefield Rising was the community partner. Oracle India Ltd provided the materials for painting - drawing sheets, pencils, erasers, water colours, crayons and pads. For…

This is butterfly season; you must have noticed these beautiful creatures fluttering past you, in the gardens and even on the roads, everywhere in the city. If you observe them carefully, you will find many moments of drama and tension! One lesser-known fact about butterflies is that they hatch out of the pupa (it's called eclosing) as fully mature adults; something I had to think about and accept, being only used to a progression of living beings from infanthood onwards to adulthood. Because of this fact, sometimes, male butterflies try to mate with a female as soon as she's emerged…

The fifth edition of the habba is the most talked about community event in the neighbourhood of ORR-Sarjapur Road. Kere Habba or Lake Festival is an annual day long conservation-focused celebration of the gorgeous Kaikondrahalli lake, planned this time on February 17. 2019. It is an amalgamation of music, theatre, fitness, art, design and fun - all talking the same idiom of ecology and environment. Some of the most prominent names in the world of conservation, ecology and science conduct pro bono sessions to raise funds to support and maintain this lake. Their sessions are jam-packed and draw huge crowds. One of…

It's always a tug-of-war on the second Sunday of every month. I have learnt a lot on the Lalbagh walks, but since I am generally committed to the 3rd and 4th Sunday walks, I do like to go to other birding spots with my friends. Well, on the 13th of January, the tug was decided by the fact that the Asian Waterfowl Census, or AWC ) is on, and we could contribute data and pretend to be very scientific, while following the experts around and getting to see a lot of birds! So off we went to Hoskote kere, after…

Once in a while our best laid plans go awry at the lake. For instance, from the time the lake was getting rejuvenated in early 2010, we had reserved a prime space for a Red-Silk Cotton tree (Bombax ceiba). It is deciduous but the flowers more than make up for the absence of leaves. The beautiful bright red flowers attract birds in hordes. They visit not just for the nectar but also for the water that collects in the cup like flower. But it seemed impossible to get a sapling. Finally, Mr. Ramachandran, a regular visitor to the lake got…

Even as the large water bodies in the city struggle to keep encroachments at bay, the smaller ponds and kalyanis that have been nameless but have been part of the city’s water systems historically are losing the battle. One such nameless pond that maybe lost to encroachment is situated near the Don Bosco College at Mysore Road.  While the encroachment (as we have seen it) measures about 40 X 20 meters, the kalyani is about 6 to 8 times bigger. It abets the rear compound wall of the educational institution and the water body has a cemetery near by which…

Even as the large water bodies in the city struggle to keep encroachments at bay, the smaller ponds and kalyanis that have been nameless but have been part of the city’s water systems historically are losing the battle. One such nameless pond that maybe lost to encroachment is situated near the Don Bosco College at Mysore Road.  While the encroachment (as we have seen it) measures about 40 X 20 meters, the kalyani is about 6 to 8 times bigger. It abets the rear compound wall of the educational institution and the water body has a cemetery near by which…

We are delighted to tell you that our low cost, low maintenance Artificial Floating Island (AFI) has been introduced at Madiwala Lake! Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) plans to introduce these in Agara lake as well. Last month, on 12th July, Ms. Seema Garg, the new CEO of KLCDA  had visited Puttenahalli Lake and shown great interest in our floating wetland platforms. She informed the officers in charge of setting up the Bio-diversity Park at Madiwala Lake about our innovation and they in turn visited our lake on 21st August 2017. We took Mr. Chidananda, Dy Range Forest Officer and Dr. Padmavathi, Project Coordinator, around…