Thursday, November 26, 2015

Order your PNLIT Calendar 2016!

Our Puttenahalli lake is a little world in itself, of the best kind because it includes birds, butterflies, trees, flowers and more. Showcasing these is our calendar for the new year, "Life at Puttenahalli Lake."  Take a sneak peek at the gorgeous photos taken by experienced photographers who are also from our neighbourhood.



Each of these photos shows the miracle that is Nature. We are printing a limited number of copies. If you would like to have a copy or two, or more, please place your order in advance. 

Calendar details
Format - Desk top 
Size - 5.7" x 8.5" (roughly A5)
No. of sheets - 8 (16 pages)
Paper - 300 gsm art paper
Binding - Spiral 
Cost - Rs. 220 only

Place your order with: Ms. Nupur Jain <nupur21@gmail.com> (nupur21 at gmail dot com); mob. +91 9886629769

Let Life at Puttenahalli Lake adorn your desk and remind you how precious, how beautiful life is. 

Monday, November 23, 2015

Can you get us CSR fund to clean our lake?

Dear Friends, 

Even if you do not visit our Puttenahalli lake too often, our updates would tell you of the trials, tribulations and thrills we experience as citizen custodians. We are much more than a mere watchdog body. Slowly but surely we have been taking several steps to improve the quality of the lake and sensitizing the locality about its importance. 

The rain and regular inflow of excess treated water from the South City STP are increasing the level beautifully in our lake but growing profusely along with it is the alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides; honagone soppu). This is a weed that grows lush on land and in water. Just a bit is enough for it to multiply! We need to remove it before it covers and kills the lake. The amount we need for this is between Rs. 10 to 12 lakhs. To ensure that the weed doesn't recur we want to enter into an annual maintenance contract for at least three years with the lake cleaning team. This will cost about Rs. 3 lakhs a year. 

While BBMP is supportive and in fact, they cleaned the lake only in March this year, they do not have the funds. Even if they do, procedural delays will lead to the weed growing some more. We need corporates to pitch in through their CSR. Can you get us CSR fund to clean our lake? 

Indeed, do please share this request with as many of your friends and contacts as you can. Together let's tackle this menace. After working so hard to rejuvenate the lake we don't want to surrender it to an obnoxious invasive weed!

Many thanks
Regards
Usha
Chairperson, PNLIT
mob. 72597 22996


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

What a shower!

The rain yesterday took all by surprise. Not us though since we are in the habit of looking at the sky for rain bearing clouds. Nevertheless, we hoped and prayed, that the dark clouds would not glide away but show their mercy on the lake. It did and how! 

It is good news and bad news really since the rain is washing away the soil on the slope but this is a far easier problem to solve than how to prevent vandalism!

Usha


Pics: Nupur Jain

Monday, November 2, 2015

Evil or Empty Minds?

Last Tuesday, on 27th October, when our gardeners came to work at 9 a.m., they saw four of the Cuddappa stone seats in the Gazebo smashed, 15 out of the 20 heavy Sadarahalli granite seat of benches along the walking track were upturned and one broken into two. See the pix. We are used to vandals breaking the glass windows of the cabin, ripping apart our signages, pulling down branches of trees, even uprooting them but this incident takes it to another level altogether. Who did this in the dark of the night? Evil minds or empty minds? 


We informed BBMP immediately who in turn filed a police complaint. BBMP provides security with Home Guards. On that fateful night, the guard was on leave and no replacement had been provided. As citizen custodians, we have been maintaining the lake to the best of our ability. The lake is for the benefit of the community and we have never stopped anyone from entering the premises, day or night. BBMP may be the owner of the lake but it belongs equally to all of us. We need to come together and protect it from such vicious, meaningless acts. 

To ensure that you who visit the lake are not inconvenienced, we have put back the granite slabs. The broken seats will be replaced as soon as we are able to raise the money. For your part, we urge you to be vigilant. Don't let anyone misuse the lake or damage government property. Remember, it is OUR lake. 

We look forward to your support to maintain and protect Puttenahalli Lake.

PNLIT team