Showing posts with label World Environment Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Environment Day. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Event report - World Environment Day and 12 years of PNLIT

Two attendees write about the event


World Environment Day, 2022 started with an educational and inspirational morning  for the citizens of JP Nagar. Organised by Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT), Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) and Indian Music Experience (IME), this turned out to be a once in a lifetime experience.

PNLIT celebrated their 12th year as a Trust on this occasion. Ms. Sapana Rawat hosted the event while Ms. Usha Rajagopalan, the chairperson of PNLIT showed us the video of the incredible 12 yr journey of the lake. She mentioned how PNLIT works with the various government departments and how it has come so far with strong support from the neighbourhood residents. 


Ms. Kaveri from KSLSA gave an enlightening talk, highlighting waste management and citizens' role in taking care of the environment. 

Coming in all the way from North Bangalore was Mr. Samuel John, who provided an exceptional presentation with snaps on various life forms at the lake. His underwater video and the hunting sequence he had captured of one spider fooling and eating another spider were simply wonderful. He enlightened us about the important role played by each and every tiny organism present. How they all help in maintaining a rich ecosystem at the lake.

This remarkable presentation was followed by another showstopper - a vocal recital by National award winning singer Ms. Bindhumalini. Her melodious voice left everyone stunned, especially those, like me, who had shut their eyes in the dim room. I was transported into a peaceful world.

The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Ms. Sahana, who gifted the three special guests a sapling each. What a great start to Environment Day !!

- Nishka Jain, Student, 16 years



World Environment Day of 2022 and PNLIT's 12th anniversary were celebrated on 5th June 2022 in collaboration with PNLIT, IME and KSLSA. The event started on time with a welcome speech by Sapana, a PNLIT volunteer, followed by a presentation on how the lake has evolved over the last 12 years.

Usha Rajagopalan, the Chairperson of PNLIT took the audience through the journey of PNLIT since its inception till date including the ups and downs faced by the team. She shared how the issues have been handled and the lake brought back to life after 2 years of struggling with the sewage inflow. The audience consisted mainly of the donors, well-wishers of PNLIT and the neighborhood residents.


Usha's address was followed by a very thoughtful speech by Smt. Kaveri, Deputy Secretary, KSLSA. The importance of celebrating World Environment Day and this year's theme on One Earth with the tagline of 'living sustainably in harmony with nature' were beautifully articulated by her. She also pointed out our responsibility as citizens towards reducing and managing waste that we generate.


The next part of the event was a presentation by Samuel John, co-founder of social enterprise called "Spiders and the Sea". The presentation took us all to another world at the lake that we may not have observed both inside and outside the water body. He emphasized on the importance of each living organism of the lake and how they all are interdependent to complete the cycle of life. Right from the tiniest ant to algae to kites and fish, all forms of the ecosystem of our beautiful Puttenahalli lake came to life right in front of us through the pictures and videos captured with great efforts by Samuel John.


The perfect finale of the day's event was the soulful singing by Ms. Bindumalini Narayanaswamy. It was very thoughtful of her to have the lights switched off so the music could help the audience look inwards and spend a few moments to organise the thoughts and allow them to flow seamlessly. The choice of songs from Kabir's song about water to the shlokas from Vishnu purana, all blended beautifully to the theme and were delivered flawlessly through her captivating voice. The audience were mesmerized with her performance.



The event ended with a vote of thanks by Ms. Sahana, Head of Curation, IME. 



Overall, time well spent on a Sunday morning celebrating World Environment day and PNLIT's 12th anniversary.

- Nandhini Sriraaman, PNLIT Trustee


Picture credits - Nupur Jain, Aditi Mahesh



Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Join us in celebrating World Environment Day and 12 years of PNLIT

We're happy to invite you for World Environment Day celebration on Sunday, 5th June, 2022. This event is being held jointly with the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA), and Indian Music Experience (India's first interactive music museum). The programme will begin at 11 a.m. at the IME auditorium in Brigade Millennium, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bangalore 560078.





As our well-wisher, you will be happy to know that we will also be celebrating the 12th year of PNLIT (on 11th June 2022). Twelve years of taking care of Puttenahalli Puttakere! 

This double celebration has a distinguished, exciting panel which includes: 

Mr. Shashidhara Shetty, Hon'ble Member-Secretary, KSLSA, who leads the activities of legal services institutions in the State. 

Mr. Samuel John, a nature (read 'spider') lover and underwater photographer who visited our Puttakere last year and can't keep himself from coming and shooting, on land, under water! You can therefore expect a unique video presentation. 

Our Chairperson, Usha Rajagopalan, will highlight the past, the present and the future of Puttenahalli Lake in a brief talk. 

The finale - a musical tribute to nature by Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy, the National award winning singer and composer. 

So, folks, welcome, welcome, welcome! Mark the date and time on your calendar: 

Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Venue: IME auditorium, Brigade Millennium, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bangalore 560078
Day: Sunday, 5th June, 2022
This event is free and open to everyone
Do please join us for refreshments from 10:30 a.m. 

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Lake Update on World Environment Day

Greetings to all on World Environment Day. On this occasion which calls for protecting our ecosystem, here is an update about our neighbourhood lake. 

The best news is that the Puttakere is free of sewage at last, or should we say, for now? With the BWSSB's replacement drain leaking as recently as February, we had to pursue them to get it resolved. It turned out that the connecting drain outside the premises was not big enough hence the back flow was entering the lake. For almost the whole of April, the middle of the road in front of the petrol bunk (on the BM - Arekere road) was dug up. For various reasons including rain, work couldn't proceed as planned. With BBMP, we, and the slum dwellers urging them, BWSSB engineers replaced the drain and, on  22nd April, arrested the back flow.  

The slum dwellers were forced to protest because sewage had entered several of their houses too. Two years after the High Court disposed of their writ petition, we filed one on 6th March seeking the Hon'ble Court to issue directions to the government to relocate the slum and stop sewage inflow permanently. Our WP 4964/2021 came up for hearing on 31st May. The Division Bench has asked the respondents to file their objections and fixed the next hearing on 6th July. 

After the sewage influx was stopped, the BBMP contractor had less than a week before the lock down to resume his work. He managed to strengthen the bund on the slum side, but couldn't complete the pitching or do the few other pending tasks. Like him, we too have learned to take such delays in our stride and to take (greater) pleasure in the small things at the lake. Most of the pictures in this post were taken by our gardener, Ramu, with his mobile. The quality may not be very good but they will hopefully lift your spirits. We can all do with a bit of cheer in these depressing times. 

Clean rain water, 31st May 2021

Newly fixed bird perches and in the background, revetment work in progress


The rain has turned it into a swampy grassland once again and the birds are loving it! A couple of weeks ago, our gardeners had put up perches which are being put to good use by different species of birds. Their return to the lake is one of the things that boosts our morale. 

Pigeons on perches, 29th May 2021

Green and lush, 28th May 2021

Dragon fruit flowers, 4th June 2021

Terrapin getting some sun


Red-wattled Lapwing

Swamp hens and Coot

Increasingly, researchers are pointing to a direct link between destruction of nature and outbreak of diseases. On  World Environment Day, today, let us pledge to promote awareness and protection of the environment and natural resources and do our bit through the year!

Take care. Stay safe. 

Aerial view of the lake, 4th June 2021

Friday, June 5, 2020

Happy World Environment Day!

On the occasion of World Environment Day, let's take an oath to keep the world a better, greener, richer place - today and everyday!
Happy to share a newsletter for children brought out by Atree. Please click here to view/download. 
Do get your children to go through this issue. 
Thanks to Priya Ranganathan for bringing this to our notice. 




Tuesday, June 5, 2018

World Environment Day

Greetings to all on World Environment Day, 5th June. On this occasion I forward a heartfelt appeal from one of our volunteers, Ms. Nandhini Sriraaman, Adarsh Palmsprings. Nandhini has been striving for several years to "Beat Plastic Pollution." 

These suggestions are simple, easily done by each one of us but their impact is deep, life changing. 

-------------------
Dear Friends, 

Today is World Environment Day and India is playing the host with a very pertinent theme 'Beat Plastic Pollution'. The world is literally drowning under plastic, thanks to our lifestyle. Indiscreet usage of plastic has spoilt our soil, water, air and ocean, directly and indirectly affecting our health. We all can take these few small steps that make a huge impact to the world around us. We have to stand up to 'Refuse' anything that cannot be reused. 

1. Carry your own reusable bag for shopping. Refuse plastic carry bags. 
2. Carry your own reusable water bottle to avoid disposable water bottles 
3. Avoid decorations using balloons and other single use plastic items during parties and functions. Instead, choose reusable decoratives or flowers. 
4. Avoid single use disposable cutlery for parties and gettogethers. Rent reusable steel cutlery. 
5. Avoid single use straws in your drinks. 
6. Carry reusable drawstring bags to buy grocery.
7. Carry reusable containers while ordering food. Even better would be to dine in.
8. Use reusable menstrual cups, cloth pads and cloth diapers in place of disposable sanitary napkins and diapers.

Let us all pledge to follow these simple steps for the sake of our future generations.

Thanks
Nandhini