The Year That Was - PNLIT Highlights of 2018

The transition from one day to another is, well, as predictable as the marching of time. And yet, the shift from 31st Dec. to 1st Jan has something magical about it. It spells new hope, a fresh beginning. We hope our resolutions for the new year will bear fruit and wish that yours would come true as well. 

Here's a quick flashback on our highs and lows of 2018. 

Jan: T.S.Srinivasa’s “Discover Garden Climbers” was released by naturalist Vijay Thiruvady followed by an absorbing discussion on climbers, shrubs, grasses and more in a lively Q & A. Mr. Thiruvady and Mr. Srinivasa inaugurated the naming of the trees in our lake by hanging a board on a Badminton Ball (Parkia biglandulosa) and a Big-leaf Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla).  We are putting up the name boards on other species. 

Srinivasa and Thiruvady, Jan 2018

Feb: The northern side entrance to the lake was finally made secure with a fence and gates. A grant from VMWare enabled us to undertake this installation which had been pending since 2009 when BBMP marked the boundary of the lake. 

Mar: Heavy pre-monsoon rain on the 15th led to sewage gushing into the lake from three sources. BWSSB did stop the inflow but by then the quantum of sewage was too high and the fish began to die. By the end of the week, almost all of the fish were gone. It was a traumatic experience which made us to look into aerating the water. This has become vital because the problem of sewage continues if sporadically. We have taken this up with the Chairman, BWSSB and hope they will find a permanent solution to overflowing underground drains polluting our lake. 

Fish kill, Mar 2018

Our morale received a boost with getting CSR fund from Axis Bank to meet our operational expenses for 2018-19. Such a relief! 

Saahas, our new partner to manage the waste on the lake premises and in the surroundings, began their sensitisation programme and dry waste collection. 

Apr:   Our gardeners laid pipes from the valve chambers along the walking track to water the hedge and plants on the revetment. We used the last of a grant from Deloitte Shared Services India Pvt. Ltd. given in 2015-16 to lay this pipeline and procure ground cover plants for the slope.

Watering line, Apr 2018

May: Our lake is often mistaken for its namesake in Yelahanka or with Sarakki Lake. To end this confusion we added "Puttakere," as it used to be referred to earlier. A large sized board proudly announcing "Puttenahalli Puttakere" was put up at the northern side entrance.

Name board, May 2018

June: We revived the Family Gardening day. Held on the 1st Saturday of the month, adults and children have been working with great enthusiasm. It is open to everyone. Please bring your family too!

Family gardening, June 2018 onwards

PNLIT gardener Jayanna fashioned a fountain aerator by extending the pipeline down the slope into a perforated circular tube resting on a floating platform frame. It works well. Our gardeners are enthused to innovate more!

Jayanna's fountain, Jun 2018

July: Another different event that was greatly appreciated - Yellamma and Other Stories: Stories and musical conversations on Goddess Yellamma. Held in collaboration with the Urban Folk Project, an initiative to archive folk art forms in Karnataka. 

Urban Folk Project event, Jul 2018

Aug.: Led by Mr. Sridhar Pabbisetty of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, a team of 20 Indian Economic Service officers from New Delhi visited the lake. 

Sept.: In a joint exercise with our knowledge partner, Earthwatch Institute India, part of an international environmental organisation, a Sustainability Training Programme was held for employees of HSBC. Scientists from IISc. conducted the programme. 

We signed an agreement with SMS Labs Services Pvt Ltd. to monitor the quality of the water on a monthly basis. Our heartfelt gratitude to the BMS College of Engineering who had been testing the water in their lab since June 2016. With several independent researchers and organisations coming over to collect samples and conduct their own tests, we felt it was necessary to have our own benchmark. SMS Labs Services Pvt Ltd. is an NABL certified laboratory. 

Oct.: One of our residents, Mr. Rakesh Kasba did a trial run of a self-designed "Duckweed Extractor."  With the duckweed greatly reduced in the lake, we need to explore whether it can be used to remove any other floating waste. 

A video series titled Eco-India by Scroll.in went live. The first episode on Bengaluru lakes includes ours. At the time of writing, it has been viewed 2,50,693 times! 

Nov.: Continuing our effort to aerate the water, we placed an order for a fountain with Alpha Powers, Coimbatore using a part of the Axis Bank grant. Special thanks to Mr. Raghavendra Shanbhag, a regular visitor to the lake for his help with this project. 

Our Children's Day celebration was made memorable by young singer, Anjana Padmanabhan, winner of Indian Idol Jr. Season One and a drum jam led by Ashirwad Achrekar and his 14 year old son, Arnav.  

Children's Day, Nov 2018

Earthwatch Institute India brought out a beautiful coffee table brochure on the Puttenahalli Lake revival story 

Dec. PNLIT Chairperson, Usha Rajagopalan was invited to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)-Tata Partners’ Meet on 'Building Climate Resilience for Doubling Farmers Income: Innovations in Land, Water, Energy and Ecosystems' held at Anand from 4th to 6th. She gave the Keynote address at a session on 'Warriors for India's Urban Lakes.'  In her speech, Usha had highlighted the assistance PNLIT received from BBMP (Lakes), other government agencies, our CSR partners and from the neighbourhood. With your continued support, we will reach more milestones in 2019.

Striated Heron, Dec 2018

Warmest greetings to you and your family from all of us at PNLIT!

The PNLIT Team

Photo credits: PNLIT Shutterbugs

Artificial Floating Islands in our lake

Those of you who visited Puttenahalli Lake within the past few months may have noticed small platforms floating in the water. These are Artificial Floating Islands (AFIs) which we "launched", starting in June this year. The Vetiver and Canna planted in them are growing beautifully. PNLIT trustee Nupur, her husband Pranshu Jain together with our gardener, Jayanna, are the builders of five AFIs. With volunteers from Deloitte making two last Friday we now have seven AFIs. 

AFIs, Sep 2016

A Coot's nest in one of the AFIs

Deloitte volunteers with the AFIs they made, 25-Nov-2016

Briefly about the AFI - this is a variant of the wetland, an innovative way to improve water quality and keep the lake clean. In this system of Hydroponic Phytoremediation, plants in floating platforms absorb pollutants in the water to grow. AFIs are widely used abroad but not yet popular in India. 

Simultaneously with the AFIs, we began monthly testing of the water. We are delighted to see steady improvement in the each of the eight parameters we measure - pH, Turbidity, DO, BOD, Total Solids, Total Dissolved Solids, Nitrates and Phosphates. Some parameters still need improvement, but the trends are very encouraging. It may be too early to attribute this improvement to just the AFIs since they are few in number. We have been also curtailing the growth of aquatic weeds thereby exposing more water to the sun.  

Our sincere thanks to BMS College of Engineering for testing the water samples every month, their invaluable contribution to PNLIT. To Srinivas SK for analysing the test results.  CSR support from Deloitte Shared Services India Pvt Ltd. enabled us to remove the thick spread of invasive weed from the water, to hire people to keep the water clear of new sprouts as well as to fund the AFIs. 

Usha

Certificate received from National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards

The National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards was held in Bangalore on 1st September, 2016 at Taj Vivanta Hotel.

The day-long conference focussed on trending and current issues within CSR, delivered by a high-profile panel of experts. The event culminated in an awards function in the evening. The Award highlighted those organisations and individuals that embraced the CSR and sustainability agenda and made it a key component of their procurement activities - as buyer or supplier - delivering not just a neutral impact on the environment as a consequence, but also a clear benefit. 

PNLIT was one of the NGOs invited to the event. Trustee Nupur Jain and volunteer Kalai Gautham attended the evening function. We are happy to inform you that PNLIT was one of the NGOs that was awarded a Certificate of Merit for the "Contribution to Social Cause & Empowerment". Thanks to World CSR Day & World Sustainability for the recognition.

Nupur and Kalai receiving the Certificate for PNLIT

Green to Clean

We are delighted to tell you that finally our lake is showing, almost, its true glory! The alligator weed which had covered most of the entire expanse of the water has been removed thanks to funding received from Deloitte Shared Services India Private Limited. 

27-Mar-2016 Before deweeding

18-Apr-2016

Their CSR support enabled us to hire Yellappa and his team of fishermen who began work from 3rd April and completed it on the 20th. They were an excellent group of workers who did not let anything deter them. Not the heat nor the water snakes nor the tangled shoots of the alligator weed which had spread like a large thick sheet over the water. 

Deweeding in progress

Indeed, except for us trustees and a few regular visitors to the lake, almost everyone who spoke to us doubted if there was any water at all in the lake. But little by little the water started to show as the men cut the weed deep down in the water and hauled the strips along for their colleagues to pull onto the land.They piled it along one side of the lake bed which is higher and still dry land. And what huge heaps they made! BBMP helped us dispose these off. They have sent a couple of JCBs to dig deep pits in the lake bed and tractors to fill the pits with the waste. 

We've documented all these through photographs, a selection of which you can see here. Yesterday evening, as if in celebration of Earth Day (22nd April), Yellappa released over 1200 fingerlings in the water. The four species of fish released included the Grass Carp which feeds on aquatic plants. We hope it lives up to its name and keeps the weeds under control. 

22-Apr-2016 Fish being released into the water

It is for the first time since 2009 that the lake has some water at this time of the year. (See here for pictures through the past few years.) This is because rather than depend on the unreliable monsoon, we have treated waste water from South City STP feeding the lake. What a welcome sight it is!     

21-Apr-2016

While we can now breathe easier than in the past few months, our work isn't done yet. We need to ensure that the lake remains free of all invasive aquatic weeds and implement measures to improve the quality of the water. 

It has been a long haul for both the lake and us, trustees, who are driven more by passion than by qualification or prior experience in conservation. We would not have been able to come this far without the help of all our supporters, donors and volunteers. Among many others, we would like to thank especially BBMP (lakes), South City apartment owners' association, Fisheries Dept, and Yellappa and his men. Above all, our heartfelt thanks to Deloitte Shared Services India Private Limited, our CSR Partner in this "Clean Puttenahalli Lake Project". 

- Usha Rajagopalan

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

WPA volunteers at Puttenahalli Lake

On Saturday 21st Jun 2014, a group of fourteen young employees from WPA World Class Services (India), Koramangala spent a couple of hours out in the sun at Puttenahalli Lake, away from the air-conditioned rooms of their office. Many had come from the east of Bangalore, volunteering their time, to help with the upkeep of the lake area. 

After a brief introduction by PNLIT trustee Nupur Jain, they set to work to clean up the long stretch along the Nataraja Layout - Coconut Grove side, guided by our neighbourhood volunteer Rekha George. They were an enthusiastic group with everyone looking for the tools appropriate for the main task of digging out the overgrown weeds and unwanted plants. At times they just had to use their hands. It was tough work, given that it had not rained for several days and the ground was hard. To complete the job, the weeds were transferred to the leaf composters that are set along the walking track, and in a few months will turn to manure. 

Mr Prashanth Mahadevaiah, Manager QA, from WPA, who lives close to the lake said, "It was a wonderful experience which tested our team members' strengths physically, and a memorable one as we worked along together as a team." Indeed, a satisfying way to spend a Saturday morning! Thanks to the WPA team.

Pics: Rekha / Nupur​

Apart from volunteering your services, if your organisation/ institution/ association would like to partner with PNLIT and Puttenahalli Lake, here are some of the opportunities which can be of mutual benefit.

Corporate Social Responsibility. We understand the needs of organisations to enable CSR activities that truly contribute, are meaningful to the participants and are easily managed. There are a host of long and short-term programmes for organisational groups to be a part of at the lake, at different capacities.

Training. The enclosed area of the lake allows for high quality and novel Corporate Training and other training programmes. It is outdoors, not far from the city and unique. Lake management activities can be used to form a basis for the activity and the space/perimeter walkway area can also be used.

Creating Events. Organisations, individuals and groups can also contribute through revenue earned by hosting chargeable Workshops, Camps and Activities - Photography, Nature walks and Bird spotting, School sessions, Garage sales, Art or Photo Competitions and more.

Merchandise / Promotional Material. Funding can also be facilitated by the sale/auctions of objects and craft items, such as cloth bags, T-shirts, tea coasters, calendars, recycled bottle cap key chains and fridge magnets, wristbands, at fairs at apartment complexes, offices, school carnivals and other community programmes. With your logo/ branding, these can be customized to serve as corporate gifts.  

For more details, do drop us a line <puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com> and we will get in touch with you.  

Website: http://www.puttenahallilake.in.