Shrub planting morning

We had such a wonderful time today morning with some 18 volunteers coming from across the city to plant shrubs at our Puttenahalli Lake.

Despite the distances each of them had to travel, almost all the volunteers came on the dot at 7 a.m. and stayed on to do a great job, planting nearly 200 shrubs along the coconut grove side. 

All in a row!

Some of the volunteers

Special thanks to Surendran, Founder, Volunteer for a Cause (VFC) for forwarding our invitation and getting volunteers to work at our lake. We had volunteers from as far as Kodigehalli, beyond Whitefield (Deepa), Marathahalli (Karthik), BTM Layout, JP Nagar, Banasankari, etc. Thanks to our friends from BM, Mr. & Mrs. Gopal, Mrs. Seetha Nagaraj, Regunath Balasubramaniam and others. Greatly appreciate your presence and invaluable contribution. 

The Lake, 1st June 2013

We will plant the remaining shrubs tomorrow morning and look forward to volunteers new and old, coming again tomorrow.

Planting on 1st June 2013

As part of phase 2 of shrub planting, we have got 379 saplings from Lal Bagh. These are butterfly attracting plants such as Hamelia patens, powder puff, ixora, cup & saucer, nerium oleander, plumbago, lantana, etc. Pics below.

Please volunteer to plant them tomorrow 1st June, morning from 7 a.m.

Pits have been dug within the inner grill for these shrubs which will be maintained to a height of about 3 feet in order to deter trespassers from entering the water. 

Last Saturday our volunteers had planted 70 saplings of Vitex negondu along the Brigade Millennium - Arekere road fence.

The next round of planting may happen, if at all, only in Aug. Don't miss this opportunity to plant these beautiful flowering shrubs in 14 varieties. Come back and revel in the sight of butterflies flocking to the shrubs you had planted!

Volunteers needed for planting on 25th May 2013

Tomorrow we will begin the first phase of planting shrubs chosen specially for their ability to attract butterflies and small birds. We intend to plant Vitex Negundo along the fence on the Brigade Millennium-Arekere Road. We are planting Vitex to also block out the traffic noise on this busy road! :-) 

One of our regular volunteer gardeners, Vinay, has kindly agreed to coordinate the planting which will begin at 7 a.m. sharp. The pits are already dug and ready to receive the plants. FYI, only 57 saplings are to be planted tomorrow.

Give Vinay a helping hand and use the opportunity to see the fresh water in the lake! You may also spot the Spot-billed Ducks and Pied Wagtail in the photos taken yesterday evening by Nirupama Sriram.

Spot-billed Ducks

Wagtail

Our lake of dreams coming true

Based on a total station survey done by Enzen Global in Aug. 2011, PNLIT got the BBMP to install a  new diversion channel (DC) to harvest surface run off from the Brigade Millennium road into the lake. After some unavoidable delays, complicated government procedures, worker issues, etc. the major DC work was finally completed a month ago.

The intermittent drizzle over the past couple of weeks indicated that the DC could work but we were not sure just how well it would till the downpour last night. Glimpses of the lake lit by lightning last night were exciting, raising our hope that we tried so hard to suppress! Doesn't the brightest idea in the dark of the night seem drab in the morning? But this was not an idea. This was reality. Our DC was working and how!

23rd May 2013 (Pic: Prashant Agrawala)

Catching the first rays of the morning sun, the water glittered here, there, almost everywhere. Yes! Our Puttenahalli lake finally seemed like a lake (to quote trustee OP Ramaswamy)! This, despite the fact that the DC work is not fully complete. The BBMP is yet to replace the concrete slabs beneath the Brigade Millennium arch with a grating that would enable even more water from the road to enter the lake. We hope they will do it within a week for then the inflow will be several times more than yesterday's.

Rain water flowing from South City

Force eroded lake slope

From the new diversion channel like a waterfall

Other views

Birds are back already!

With prediction of a "normal" monsoon, we are confident that the dismal sight of a puddle in the lake even yesterday evening can be forgotten at last. The only blessing our Puttenahalli Lake will need is from the Rain God, not from an STP. 

With this, one of our dreams came true last night. Many more are still to be realized but at this point, we'd like to thank the BBMP for installing the DC, Contractor Harish for doing such a good job despite being skeptical about it functioning, to Enzen for giving us the hope two years ago that we could fill the lake with rain water. Thanks too to all our friends, supporters, volunteers and donors. Together we make a great team! 

Usha

More pictures taken by OP Ramaswamy can be seen here.

Bangalore Lake Diaries

Bangalore was once called the city of a 1000 lakes. Over time, we lost most of our lakes to urbanization, sewage dumping, encroachment and rapid development. 

Bangalore Lake Diaries, a community film made by The Alternative and Korkai chronicles the pioneering lake conservation efforts undertaken by the city to combat the water crisis by preserving its only freshwater source - lakes.

Happy announcement for nature lovers

On the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly the Tamil Nadu CM announced the formation of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu) yesterday. This is great news indeed for the Melagiri region. A dream come true for many a conservationist.

The contiguous forests of Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri Districts consisting of several reserve forests and riverine, hilly and plateau regions are commonly referred to as the Melagiri Region. The forest extends for nearly 2500 sq. km of the Eastern Ghats, and of this, about 1500 sq km constitutes Melagiri. In fact our Bannerghatta National Park forms the Northern tip of Melagiri, and Cauvery River beyond Mekadatu and up to Hogenekal (nearly 60 kms)  are also part of Melagiri.

About 500 sq km along the Cauvery River has been designated as a sanctuary. Melagiris is contiguous with the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary of Karnataka. To be precise - one bank of the river falls under Karnataka while the other bank belongs to Tamil Nadu.

'Sanctuary' status was a much needed thing as this will ensure the kind of protection that is required to protect the several Endangered, Vulnerable and Near Threatened species of birds and animals. Melagiri is home to elephants, bears, leopards, gaur, sambar, chital and many more smaller animals and birds. Up until the late 70s tigers were seen.

This region has been plundered by all kinds of smugglers and poachers for a very very long time, including the infamous Veerappan.  Sandalwood and elephant tusks were the main target along with several other trees and all kinds of animals. The tiger was completely wiped out due to several reasons including poaching, lack of prey species (which were hunted and snared) and human invasion.

Hopefully this announcement of converting a part of the Melagiri from 'Reserve Forest' to 'Sanctuary' should ensure the much needed protection for the surrounding forest of Melagiri. A special thanks to Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) which relentlessly pursued the Tamil Nadu government to designate the region as a 'Sanctuary'. Though only a part of the region has been designated as one, it is the first step towards conserving the whole extent of the Melagiris.

This is only a beginning and a lot must be done to safeguard this jewel of a region that has been neglected for a very long time now. Elephants use this as an important corridor to move along the Eastern Ghats and towards the Niilgiri Biosphere which is quite a long way from the Cauvery.

One can also get to see a part of the Melagiri when driving beyond Hosur and it goes on for a long distance and up to Salem almost. Unfortunately the Highway beyond Hosur  has cut through the Eastern Ghats, thus cutting off the migratory root of the elephants and other larger herbivores. In the recent past a herd of 17 elephants crossed the highway and went on to go towards and across the Andhra border.  Eventually these elephants were driven back (though they reckon some more are there on the other side).

Prasanna
Trustee, PNLIT and Founder Member, KANS

For more information, please visit:
www.kans.org.in
http://melagiri.blogspot.com

An opportunity to reap the benefits of gardening

People who participate in community gardening have a significantly lower body mass index (BMI), as well as lower odds of being overweight, than their non-gardening neighbours and siblings. This is according to a study by Dr Cathleen Zick (Professor of Family and Consumer Studies) and her colleagues from the University of Utah, USA, published on April 18, 2013 in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). 

The study concluded that "Community gardens may be a valuable element of land use diversity that merits consideration by public health officials who want to identify neighborhood features that promote health." More details of the research can be found on the website of AJPH and the news report in The Daily Utah Chronicle.

While the above study was restricted to adults, it would not be incorrect to extend the benefits of gardening to children too!

Volunteers on 13th Apr 2013 (Pic: OP Ramaswamy)

If your child is inclined towards gardening, here's an opportunity for him/her to spend one hour everyday in a pleasurable activity during the summer holidays. PNLIT is looking for children (age 10 and above) to take care of the flowering plants in the garden at Puttenahalli Lake. Let them discover the magic of nature! They will have to come daily at about 4 p.m., do some deweeding and watering of the plants. 

Please contact Mr. O P Ramaswamy at opr.sulo@gmail.com.

Volunteers' weekend

What a morning it was today! About 15 employees from Adobe, office at Dairy Circle, joined our resident volunteers and some children to create magic in a span of less than 4 hours. From 7.15 a.m. to 11 a.m., everybody spread out, formed teams and accomplished their assigned chore quickly, beautifully. 

These were the jobs they did today:

- Sand papered and painted four dust bins 

- Cleared out the rubble and waste along a stretch as preliminary to setting up a flower border. Dug a trench about one foot deep and nearly three feet wide. With the stones and mud, they made a bund along the fence, This needed quite some effort because the ground was rock hard. 

- Collected and made a pile of dry waste. 

- Vinay and Hariharan planted stakes for some trees which were growing tall and lanky. 

- The duo moved on to clean a silt trap. 

- Once done, they moved on again to fix a hollow pipe into the ground into which the bar of the garden gate latch would fit in snugly. We found that someone had pushed open the garden gate, hence this precaution.

- Four children plucked out weeds from the garden.

- Two others painted the smaller dust bins on the inner grill, a bright orange. These two were on a visit to their uncle's during the summer hold. 

- Restless for more work, Adobe volunteers offered to paint another two dust bins on the coconut grove side. One had been burnt by miscreants and was looking quite an eyesore. By the time these volunteers finished, the dust bins were looking as bright and cheerful as the painters themselves.

Sun or no sun, the enthusiasm of the volunteers, residents and visitors, was truly incredible. While leaving they asked if they could come and work tomorrow as well but my friends at PNLIT and I are pooped just watching them work in the hot sun. WE need a break tomorrow.

So all, please note - NO Volunteering tomorrow (21st Apr 2013)!! We shall inform you of the next session. Watch this space! :-)

Volunteers, there's only one word to describe you - amazing!

Usha

Last weekend, volunteers needed this weekend too

Volunteers in action last weekend - not many but very focussed and they did a good job. 

Volunteering jobs for this weekend

- Help set up a flower bed. Work involves digging, piling stones.

- De-weeding at the garden. Light manual work
- Painting the dust bins which were burnt by some miscreants last week. See pic. If you know how to go about it, you are very welcome to share your expertise with us! Work involves scraping charred bin and painting. 

- If SWM is your forte, help us segregate the waste. Work involves segregating dry waste only.

7 a.m. to 9 a.m. 

Puttenahalli Lake 

Please bring your cap and drinking water. 

Pics: Usha Rajagopalan

This weekend's gardening

I guess the heat was too much and not many volunteers turned up this weekend. Those who did brave the sun did a wonderful job though. Yesterday, 6th April, some eight of us were scattered on the lake bed, bent over or squatting on the ground. We were searching for lurking bits of the Salvinia between the cracks and under stones since even a teeny bit is enough for it to sprout and cover the water in no time. 

Fresh Salvinia spotted earlier in the week (Pic: Nupur Jain)

Searching for Salvinia (Pic: Usha Rajagopalan)

It was back breaking work all right but we didn't realize just how much Salvinia we had collected till we saw how OPR had got it packed into a plastic sack and filled a big plastic bucket. If ever we were happy to see a plant browning and dying, it was the Salvinia. :-)

Their enthusiasm soaring high, Arvind Venkatadri from Brigade Millennium, Shankar Iyer from South City and Grishma from Jayanagar 4th block started work as early 6.15 a.m. this morning. Each working in his/her space, the only time they got together was to come out after a good one hour or so. By then, the other volunteers were assembling, ready to start work. 

We decided to water our little garden near the Gazebo and pluck out the weeds. A few women walkers saw us at work and joined us. How gratifying it is to know that more and more people are beginning to accept the lake as their own and are slowly taking a little responsibility for it.  

Working in the Gazebo Garden (Pic: Usha Rajagopalan)

As the number of volunteers was less, we were not able to do some other chores such as painting our new dust bins, clearing the front (near the cycle stand) and making it ready for planting, etc. So those who had intended to work at the lake this weekend but were unable to, join us next weekend! Those of you who have never worked in a garden, come and try it out. Get your kids along as well. Have gardening fun next weekend at our Puttenahalli Lake.

Usha