Please walk past the lake on 13th to reach MLR

Please use "Doosra" as an excuse to walk through the lake and reach MLR Convention Centre. You'll see that the water level is low. It is covered with Salvinia Molesta. BUT don't miss the birds. It is likely that you can id the birds yourself but just in case you want to know - Purple Moor Hens are plenty. So also pond herons. The Purple Heron (we have a pair) take a little spotting. They are big but sit so still while waiting for prey, you may not even notice them. The Ashy Prinias are plenty too but they are small, and not easy to spot either unless they fly out into the open. They are also called warblers and you may hear their cheerful "tweet ... tweet." Other birds to look out for are: White breasted Kingfishers, White breasted Waterhens, Bronze winged Jacanas, Tailor birds, sun birds and mynahs. All these are our resident birds - Salvinia or no Salvinia. Bless them!

Going from South City, please take the walking track on the left. (The pathway on the slum side has been dug up further ahead for the BWSSB to lay a bigger Under Ground Drainage pipeline.) As you walk along the track, look at the assorted trees. The smaller ones near the turning were planted only a few months ago. Those towards the Gazebo were planted from July 2010. Some are very tall and some have begun flowering as well. As part of the 3rd phase, the BBMP has laid an irrigation pipeline all along the fence. To prevent miscreants from ripping it up, it is laid underground. However, you will see a short length of blue - grey plastic occasionally jutting out of the ground. A valve will be fixed to these ends. Once water connection is given, we will fix a hose pipe and draw water from these points. When it becomes operational, we intend to plant shrubs between two trees within the inner grill. The shrubs will serve the dual purpose of attracting butterflies while deterring trespassers from crossing the fence.

As you come out of the lake premises, the huge concrete pipe lengths outside are for the diversion channel to harvest rain water from Brigade Millennium (BM) road into the lake. The contractor wanted to begin work last week. We requested him to do so after the play on Sunday (so that you can walk through to reach MLR). Our lake is one of the very few in the city to be free of sewage inflow, hence the low water level. With the new diversion channel in place, we hope more rain water will enter the lake. Well before monsoon, the contractor will remove the Salvinia from the surface of the water. More birds will then return to the lake making it once again a little bird sanctuary in our neighbourhood! 

After this walk or after seeing the play, if you feel peckish please visit the MLR Snacks counter. Kai Ruchi will be serving Hot Bhajji, chaats, hot and cold beverages at reasonable rates.

On your way back from MLR, take another good look around the lake and its premises. Together with the BBMP we are slowly inching towards transforming the lake with lots of clean water, birds and butterflies. We need your support to sustain our work. Come to the lake as often as you want, help us effect the transformation!

Oh yes! If you didn't get donor passes in advance, it doesn't matter. You can get them at the venue. Two shows: 3.30 and 7 p.m. Each pass goes to nurturing the lake and remember, you can claim IT exemption u/s 80G. Go for it! See Doosra! Help our lake!

Those from BM side (who can reach MLR without crossing the lake) can still take a walk to the lake before coming back to MLR!

PNLIT Team

Exciting times for our lake!

The Salvinia Molesta covering the surface of our little Puttenahalli Lake has not deterred all the birds! Our regulars, the Purple Swamphens, Purple Heron, Pond Herons among others had refused to leave the lake even though the invasive aquatic fern was spreading on the water. They have now been joined by a Grey Heron, a couple of Cormorants and Kingfishers! The Kingfisher especially is good news. It means that the water below the Salvinia is still fresh and alive. These were just a few of the birds we spotted in the midst of what seems like a 1001 tasks we have to do at the lake. Not that we are complaining about the tasks since we mooted them ourselves. :-)

These are exciting times for our lake. On our request the BBMP has issued a work order to execute a number of initiatives which will infuse new life into the lake.

The first of these is the Diversion Channel to draw surface rain water from the Brigade Millennium avenue road into the lake. The Channel will be laid from the BM arch to the lake. According to a Total Station survey done in Sept 2011 to assess the feasibility of diverting this water, the quantum entering through this new feeder channel will be quite substantial. The first of the massive (45 inches inner diameter) pipes have been unloaded and will be kept in place soon. The channel will be put to test during the next monsoon.

Pipes for the Diversion Channel

The contractor has also been entrusted with de-weeding the lake. Getting rid of the Salvinia Molesta is not going to be easy. It has to be removed manually from the water, dried and then disposed appropriately. The contractor's men are clearing another lake and once that is done, they will start de-weeding ours. We had only heard of Salvinia Molesta but not seen it at close quarters before. It is a beautiful aquatic fern, so decorative that it is sometimes used in home aquariums. However, the smallest fragment of the fern can double its dry weight in about two days, spread like a blanket over large water bodies and is known to have killed lakes across the world. We have learned our lesson with Salvinia Molesta. Any time in future that we spot a piece in our lake, we will pluck it out of the water. We have geared ourselves very well for this with a variety of rakes to snatch out the smallest bit of this hateful fern.

Gardeners at work clearing the slopes

While waiting for the Diversion Channel pipes to arrive, the contractor got his men to start digging a trench and laying an Irrigation Pipeline all around the lake to facilitate watering the plants. At present we get water tankers to fill the tanks and the gardeners use the wheel barrow to ferry filled buckets to water our 320 trees, many shrubs and other plants. A laborious task to say the least not to mention an expensive one. The bore wells around the lake are recharged thanks to the lake but the well operators do not reduce their charge one bit! The Irrigation Pipeline will enable us to plant two more rows of trees on the slope, countless small flowering plants between trees on the embankment, shrubs, creepers, climbers and what have you to give ourselves a green nice cover in the neighbourhood.

Irrigation Pipeline trenches

If you think these are just pipe dreams, please visit the lake and see the work happening. Perhaps you can supervise the workers and relieve us of that chore? Perhaps you may like to join us in our effort to maintain, or rather, transform a lake with people power?

Usha Rajagopalan