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

Celebrating Holi with flowers

Think Holi, and which is the colour that flashes before your eyes? 

...

...

Pink?  

Well, whether pink or any other, you will, most likely, find it in the gardens of Puttenahalli Lake. 

While we (and our statutory bodies) are still working to get our Puttakere back to looking like a proper water body, and still battling with Covid, the hundreds of flowers blooming around the lake do full justice to the festival of colours.

Purple Wreath

Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow

Blue Morning Glory

Blue Plumbago

Golden Trumpet

Galphimia

Cape Honeysuckle

Candy King

African Tulip

Perfumed Passion Flower

Red Cassia

Red Geranium

Bougainvillea

Crepe Myrtle

Pink Trumpet

Pink Geranium

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Spider Lily

Whitelady

White Water Lily

The flowers photographed by PNLIT Trustees Nupur Jain and Sangita Agrawal are all currently in bloom. Look out for them, and many others on your next walk around the lake.

Happy Holi to all the PNLIT family!

Big white flowers

Thank you to everyone for their kind words and greetings on the 10th anniversary of PNLIT. Our apologies for not acknowledging your encouragement and affection earlier. The reason for this delay in responding was a flower. Yes. A Big White Showy Flower. 

When we went to the lake on the 11th, the first thing that caught our eyes was a profusion of these big white flowers which hung from the chain link fence behind the gazebo. At first glance they looked like Brahma Kamal which blooms at night and droops during the day. That too, apparently once a year. 

Was nature giving us a gift? Though thrilled, we sent the photos to five experts.  All of them  confirmed that it is not the Brahma Kamal. Two felt it was likely to be Dragonfruit. This sent us into another tizzy. Our gardeners insisted that they had only seen the flowers, never any fruit. Today morning, our mentor said that it is not easy to guess what's preventing pollination and suggested that we try hand pollination since these are big flowers. We have no clue how to go about this just as we have no idea how the plant came up at the lake in the first place. 

Pictures taken by Sapana (our coordinator) and Ramu (our gardener)

A year or two ago, we had noticed the cactus-like stem growing on the bamboo behind the gazebo but, caught in other work, hadn't quite paid attention to it. Now they burst into flower and how! The Brahma Kamal flowers are said to bring prosperity and good fortune. We hope the flowers of the Dragonfruit will do likewise as we enter our 11th year!

Riot of Yellow Tabebuia at the lake and more

Different parts of the city are aflame with the glorious colours of pink and yellow of the Tabebuia rosea and aurea. Just these two flowers in profusion make our city a very special place to live in. Our lake is not lagging far behind. We have only one pink Tabebuia but the yellow ... ah! It's truly a magnificent sight of a line of the Tabebuia aurea ... a shower of gold indeed! Even if you don't go anywhere else to see the blooms, do visit the lake. 

Tabebuia aurea

These are extra special because they were planted by our residents in July 2010 and because next to these is our pergola on which two of the climbers are flowering as well. 

Racing to catch up with the yellow Tabebuia are the line of pink Cassia at the Brigade Millennium end. The branches are already loaded with buds. 

While you are at the lake, do look out for the bird nesting boxes - One each on the Kadamba and Buddha Coconut. We plan to put up a few more. Heartfelt thanks to naturalists Mr. Uday Kumar and Mr. J.N. Prasad for donating these nesting boxes. 

Bird nesting box on the Buddha Coconut Tree

Our gardener Soma fixing a nesting box on the Kadamba Tree

Visit the lake and enjoy the riot of colours!

Best

Usha

Photos: Mrs. Parthasarathy, Nupur, Usha  

Lake stories

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 us a packet of seeds from the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun!  

In our enthusiasm, we planted the seeds directly in the soil instead of soaking them first. Out of 10 or 15, two sprouted. We planted one ceremoniously in the reserved site and waited for it to grow and flower. It did but what do you know, the flowers were white! It was a Ceiba pentandra  and not Bombax ceiba

By the time it flowered, it had already become a young giant. Apparently, the Kapok tree can grow up to 150 ft! Fortunately, the space should be enough. Let it grow and flower all it wants. We've shifted our hope to another silk cotton we'd planted some years ago. It is yet to flower. To be on the  safer side, Mr. Ramachandran got another batch of seeds, this time insisting on Bombax ceiba. For want of space, we have kept the seeds safe. 

White silk cotton, Jan 2018

Space constraint for trees led us to think of planting vines. Climbers on the fence, we knew, would invariably flower outside and not share their glory within the premises. We decided to put up a pergola. Out of three designs, we chose one by Mayapraxis. Grants from  Misys and VMWare gave us a pergola that, by the looks of it, will outlast even the youngest among us, trustees. 

We needed three species of climbers which Nupur and I chose and planted in Feb. 2018. Her favourite was Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata, "Kaurav Pandav") while mine was Indian Clock vine (Thunbergia mysorensis). Our mutual preference was for Clematis terniflora (Sweet autumn clematis). To my delight, the Clock vine quickly climbed and began to spread. Exactly as we had imagined, the flowers drooped from the height but they were red and small, not shell like maroon and yellow! It was Thunbergia all right but coccinea not mysorensis!

Thunbergia mysorensis, Oct 2018

We recover from these googlies quickly because, well, one beauty is replaced with another. It is not so easy to reconcile with shocks humans give us. Recently a gentleman telephoned and posed question after another. The only one for which I had no answer was this: "But why do you want birds at the lake?"

Ouch!

Best regards

Usha

New Year Greetings!

Walkers at Puttenahalli Lake, Dec 2014 (Pic: Arathi Manay)

Wishing everyone a great 2015! Stay active and fit in the new year by joining our regular walkers and runners at Puttenahalli Lake. 

Nesting waters, blooming gardens

With the heavy rains, it is a delight to see how much water has entered the lake this monsoon and how quickly it has become a nesting haven for birds. The weeds are being removed from the lake by a dedicated workforce but stray little weed patches here and there, that have birds' nests in them have been left untouched. The bigger 'islands' have been retained deliberately for birds to shelter from overhead predators. 

The gardens of the lake and the trees have also been well fed by the rains. The blooming flowers are bustling with butterflies and other creatures. 

Pics: taken today, Usha Rajagopalan