Inspection of the lake

Inspection of Puttenahalli Lake was done by Chairman of the Government Land Protection Task Force Mr V. Balasubramaniam, accompanied by Officials from the Deputy/ District Commissoner's Office and BBMP.

More pics here.

Phase 2 of the restoration of the lake is scheduled to begin in the second week of December 2010.

Cleaning up PNLIT vicinity

On 20-Nov-2010, the first step was taken in trying to clean up our immediate surroundings in whatever small way we can.

There is a spot on Puttenahalli Road, in front of BM Mayflower Block entrance which has been used for dumping.

20-Nov-2010 Before clean up

Assisted by the cobbler Chakravarthy who has a shop behind the dump (and who was responsible for some of the dump in the first place) and a few others, the spot was cleaned up this morning. The rubbish was enough to fill a large sack which was willingly carried away by the garbage truck... to Anjanapura dumping ground :-(. Sidewalk stones that were removed by the BBMP and left on a nearby footpath were placed appropriately and excavated mud from nearby was used to fill the crater. The exercise cost nothing but some dedicated time.

20-Nov-2010 After clean up

Chakravarthy has taken the responsibility of ensuring nothing is dumped henceforth. Some policing is required from residents of the area, BM in particular.

29-Nov-2010 Still clean... plants take the place of garbage

Challenges

Today, when visiting the lake, Usha found that seven young Thespesia saplings (trees now) mostly from the lot that was planted in July and tended with such care, a few of them even budding, have been callously broken by miscreants. Going by the freshness of the leaves, it looks like it must have happened late yesterday evening. Our sweeper informs us that this is the work of children living in the slum on the lake bund.

The challenges now - tending the wounded saplings, dealing with the miscreants, pushing for relocation of the slum...

Pursuing BBMP and others concerned for securing the lake area is in progress.

Trees mauled pics here.

Budding Thespesia

The Thespesia trees planted along the road end of the lake have started budding. Now wait for the yellow flowers...

Pics taken today

Grazing Sheep

Usually it is cows, bullocks and the occasional buffalo that come to graze at the lake. For the last few days sheep are being herded into the lake bund. Like dirty flecks of snow the animals scatter all over the sloping grassy side and eat to their heart's content while their keeper lazes on the walk way. Out of concern that the animals should not eat the sprouting leaves of the saplings, I ask the gardener to drive them away but when it comes to the sheep I hesitate. What with bakrid around the corner, it may be the animals' last meal for all I know. My heart goes out to the "bali ka bakra" and I keep quiet.

Children's Day celebrated

Children's Day was celebrated at South City on Nov 14, 2010. PNLIT set up a stall with a photographic exhibition on the changing face of Puttenahalli Lake and sale of cloth bags.

Thanks to everyone who visited the stall. We are very pleased at getting an opportunity to showcase the story of Puttenahalli Lake. Our brightest moment without doubt was this boy, Raveesh, aged about 13 or 14 coming up and saying he'd like to make a donation of Rs. 50. We told him to take a look around and see what is the cause he was donating for. He pored over the posters and photographs, returned to the counter and donated Rs. 150 to the lake fund! We are deeply touched by his gesture. It was as memorable as seeing the once threatened lake filling with water, however slowly, spotting new species of water birds or seeing the saplings grow tall!

Once again, thanks to all donors and well wishers. A special thanks to Boutique Fashions Pvt. Ltd., Hulimavu for sponsoring the bags on sale.

See more pics here.

BBMP Chief Engineer visits lake for inspection

Mr. Satish (CE BBMP), Mr. Chandrasekhar (EE), contractors and others from the BBMP were at the lake today. Mr. Satish is extremely happy with how the lake is being maintained.

The walking track is being repaired by the contractor.

Fencing towards the BM arch will be done soon. The fence will be put well inside the premises, and at a lower height, to show that it is not the boundary fence. The boundary fence will be done later.

CE Mr Satish, EE Mr Chandrashekar, Sapna

Inlet issues

Boys fishing with net

Big catch! Nile Tilapia is an exotic fish. According to recent research in Kenya, it has been found that this fish feeds on mosquito larvae and helps keep down the incidence of malaria. Don't know how it got into the lake!

Coots

A Photographic Update of The Lake

Picasa web album here.

Rise in water level at last

With only one inlet out of the five draining into the lake, the water remained more or less at the same level - low. Despairingly low. We were constantly gazing at the sky like so many Amir Khans. When it did rain, the inflow was barely enough to cover the whole of the lake bed. We fielded questions, criticism and jokes with the wits suggesting that we fill the lake with water from tankers. Since yesterday the level has risen and hopefully silenced everyone.

The magic happened thanks to the owner of the coconut grove getting a trench dug across his farm and connecting it to the inlet near the entrance. He may have done it to prevent water logging in his farm but the result? Voila! The inlet near the entrance which had remained obstinately dry all these days turned into a mini waterfall!

A few more days of rain, a couple of more inlets connected to a storm water drain .... greed is bad but not in this case. :-)

Saplings being planted

Over the past ten days, more saplings have been planted. Those saplings unavailable with BBMP were procured by PNLIT from nurseries around Bangalore and Hosur.

Mr. Bhoja Shetty, 88yrs, ex-Conservator of Forests, Tamil Nadu, planted the Peepal in the viewing deck - it is a really tall sapling and we hope its roots catch. SBI Manager Mr Keshavan planted a Golden Laburnum. Also planted were trees on the island - one Cannon Ball, two each of Arjuna and Banni, and some grass. My grandmother who came for the tree planting on Jul 17 but left without being able to plant a tree, celebrated her 90th birthday on Sep 19 and she blessed our efforts at the lake by planting a Kadamba and a Badminton Ball tree in the front (towards BM arch). As the soil is not very good here, gardener Venkat Reddy dug to a good four feet, cleared the waste and mixed a lot of manure with the clean soil. Usha has created a small nursery under the coconut grove and has got planted two medicinal plants Simarumba Gluca. They can be replanted when they reach a decent height.

Jagadish (Forest officer deputed to BBMP) was at the lake yesterday and he is arranging for more saplings to be planted. Tree planting will continue through the week. Do get in touch with PNLIT reps (Usha, Padmini or Arathi) if you would like to plant one and we will arrange for it.

Photos here.