Nature Walk at Puttenahalli Lake

We are delighted to tell you that Mr. Samuel John and Ms. Chetana Purushotham, co-founders of https://www.spidersandthesea.com/ will be conducting a nature walk for beginners at our Puttakere on 26th and 27th March 2022. 

This is part of their series called Urban Nature Walk to make people aware of the wonderful natural treasures in our city. In this instance, in our own neighbourhood lake!

Duration of the walk, participation fee and contact details are given in the poster below. Please note that they will take only 10 participants each day on a first come first served basis. Avoid disappointment by booking your place early!

Homage to Mr. Bhoja Shetty, IFS (retd)

Usha Rajagopalan pays homage to a friend of PNLIT 

A fallen flower on the pathway at the lake stopped me short two days ago. I looked up at the tree and saw one big cluster of flowers way above and buds a little lower. Our mentor Mr. Bhoja Shetty who had retired as the Chief Conservator of Forests in Tamil Nadu used to say that a proper identification of a plant would only be made from a flower. I knew exactly what this orange specimen shaped like a parrot's beak was. In fact, for the last few summers my friends and I had searched in vain for the flowers among the big leaves. When it did flower, it came as a shock, too good to be true. To be doubly sure, I sent the photograph below to a botanist who confirmed that it was indeed the celebrated Flame of the Forest (Butea  monosperma). 

The first flower of the Flame of the Forest, 5 Mar. 2022

I shared the excitement with other tree lovers, my family and friends to whom the Palash in flower meant the arrival of spring. Mr. Bhoja Shetty now lived in Pollachi so I decided to send him a print of the photograph by post. This was not to be. Yesterday morning I got to know that he had passed away. He would have been 100 years old in Sept. 2022.

I had had the good fortune to meet Mr. Bhoja Shetty almost soon after I settled in South City in 2006. My father who had been in the IFS himself had died a few months earlier so when I got to know that Mr. Bhoja Shetty had retired from the forest service, I went over and introduced myself. I was delighted to find out that they were of the same age, belonged to the same batch, and undergone training in Dehra Dun though they hadn’t known each other. They looked similar too - tall, lean, and active. 

When the rejuvenation of Puttenahalli Lake was underway I would update him often and seek his advice on the trees we could plant around the periphery. On 16^th Sept 2010, he planted a Peepal tree in the viewing deck cupping the ball of roots packed in soil in both hands. 

Mr. Bhoja Shetty planting the Peepal tree sapling. 16 Sept 2010

Also seen Mr. Vedanthan (R), Mr. N Ravi (L) from South City and Ms. Padmini (B), Brigade Millennium

We lavished care of the tree and installed benches around so that someday people would get to sit and listen to the rustling leaves. Barely a year later, on 11^th Oct. 2011, a political leader got the tree chopped down. (Read about it in this link).

In great anger and anguish, I narrated the incident to Mr. Shetty who merely smiled as if shrugging it off. He saw the replacement, a Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo, Indian Rosewood) and extolled its value as a timber wood. 

Mr. Bhoja Shetty beside the Indian Rosewood, 10 April 2013

I couldn’t forget as easily and a few years later got Mr. Shetty to plant a white silk cotton tree in the safer confines of the South City complex.

 

In June 2020, we celebrated the 10^th year of our trust, PNLIT. As a small measure of our gratitude to the large number of people who had helped us on the way, and continue to do so, we invited a few well-wishers to adopt a tree of their choice. By then Mr. Bhoja Shetty was in the loving care of his relatives in Pollachi. We did not give him a choice. Instead, along with a letter thanking him for all the help he had given us, we sent him a photograph of a Peepal tree growing lush by the water side. On it were the name boards of the species and of its adopter, Mr. Bhoja Shetty, IFS (retd). 

The Peepal in Mr. Shetty's name, 7 Mar 2022

Enjoy a musical evening at Puttenahalli Lake

After a long 'Corona' forced silence, PNLIT is excited to be hosting its first event of this year with rhythm and songs!

The talented singers of South City Karaoke Club will be paying tribute to our much loved and admired the Nightingale of India - Late Lata Mangeshkar.

On Sunday, 13th March, 2022

From 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM

At Puttenahalli Lake

Entry is free, no registration is required and all are welcome. Covid protocols will be strictly followed.

Wrapping up the year at Puttenahalli Lake!

Yet again this year, Puttenahalli Puttakere taught us the importance of perseverance and the need to stay hopeful. When it seemed as if our 'trial by sewage' which had begun in 2017 would never end, BWSSB came through in April 2021 and plugged the leaks in the underground drain they had laid last year. The lake, as of now, is free of sewage. We pray that it stays this way!

Monsoon 2021. It seemed as if the southwest monsoon merged with the northeast and the rain would simply not cease. On the one hand, we wanted dry days that would allow BBMP to complete the lake cleaning, strengthening the bund, relaying the track, etc. On the other, we were delighted that the the sewage residue was getting diluted. However, the surface runoff had also brought in new invasive weeds. We'd battled with Salvinia molesta and realized that the pesky alligator weed had its uses. We now had to get rid of submerged weeds (Chara sp and Ottelia alismoides), emergent ones (water lily) as also the pervasive water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and others. Since birds need vegetation patches to shelter, nest and forage, we needed to leave enough for them. 

A little decoration

Gathering weeds with a trash boom

BBMP removing weeds, 9-Jul-2021

Persicarea pulchra

Polygonum, Alternanthera

In July and August, BBMP's workers along with our four gardeners were engaged in this but they had few sunny days and the weeds grew quickly. Nevertheless, the lake had rippling water but by November became a bed of green. Since the last one week, we have resumed clearing the water again. The almost immediate sighting of the Common Kingfisher is encouraging since it is found only where the water is clear.  We will control the weed growth even though the monsoon may bring in more next year. 

Common Kingfisher, 21-Dec-2021 (Pic: Satishchandra Karanth)

This confidence doesn't extend to knowing if the BBMP will renew our MoU  in the new year or if the authorities will take action to protect the lake premises from the encroachers at least in 2022. Both matters are sub-judice. 

Following BBMP's guidelines, the lake was closed for several months in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year it remained out of bounds for longer due to the repair work that seemed to go on and on. We are happy to tell you that from Wed, 22nd Dec., the lake has become accessible to the public once again. Timings are 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors, especially bird watchers, naturalists and photographers, have a treat in store. 

A royal Grey Heron on the perch (Pic: SK Srinivas)

Seesaw for birds (Pic: Ramu)

With footfall reducing, the lake has turned into a nursery. Chicks swimming with their parents is a common sight but we were taken aback to see five little black blobs on the walking track on 22nd Oct. Sunning themselves in the open were the chicks of the White-breasted Waterhen. And to think that the adult birds scuttle away at the sight of humans! 

White-breasted Waterhen chicks, 22-Oct-2021 (Pic: Ramu)

Little Grebes "piggy backing" (Pic: Satishchandra Karanth)

We welcome you to visit and enjoy the natural treasures in Puttakere. Let's nurture the lake together as a rich ecosystem in the days, months and years to come. 

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a great new year. 

Best regards

PNLIT team

Citizen lake groups left in the lurch

Greetings to all on Karnataka Rajyotsava Day. 

The continuous assault on hundreds of Bangalore’s famed lakes by vested interests prompted concerned citizens to raise the issue of our deteriorating water bodies with the state government, and the city administration. BBMP’s Lakes department lacked the funds and bandwidth to both rejuvenate lakes, and maintain them thereafter. The stress on the system was visible as rejuvenated lakes went back into various states of disrepair over time. 

In 2009, the team under the leadership of Mr. B.V. Satish, then Chief Engineer, BBMP Lakes, took the extraordinarily progressive step of inviting neighbourhood residents  to participate in lake rejuvenation through discussions, and incorporating suggestions  from community representatives during rejuvenation. They then signed MoUs with these resident groups to maintain the rejuvenated lakes. Between 2011 and 2019, BBMP had signed MoUs with citizen-led, not-for-profit trusts such as PNLIT, MAPSAS, JaLaposhan and Iblur Environs Trust to maintain and nurture eight lakes in all. Under the stewardship of each group, these lakes began to thrive, becoming rich in biodiversity, and enhancing the quality of life of people in the neighborhood. With public interest mounting and leading to the formation of other groups, registered and informal, it seemed as if there was finally hope for the rest of the city’s lakes.

In 2020, based on a direction of the hon'ble High Court, against a WP 38401/2014 dated 04/03/2020 which read “... the State Government shall not execute any such MOU with any Corporate Entity”, BBMP stopped renewing MoUs with these citizen groups, even though the High Court explicitly forbade BBMP from engaging with corporate entities.

The court was unaware of the existing partnerships between BBMP and citizen groups for the upkeep of rejuvenated lakes, and BBMP did not seek the court’s permission to renew our MoUs.The citizen groups filed Interlocutory Applications on 29/06/2021 to the above-mentioned WP; these, however, have not been heard and admitted because of the elevation of the concerned Chief Justice to the Supreme Court of India.

To resolve this impasse, we met Mr Gaurav Gupta, Commissioner BBMP, and top officials from the BBMP Lakes department on 25th October 2021. He appreciated our contribution, and welcomed community participation, especially since we ensured continuity in lake upkeep even as officers within the BBMP were shifted constantly. However, till the hon’ble High Court resumes the hearings in WP 38401/2014, listens to our submissions and gives due directions, we have to remain ‘unofficial’ lake custodians. Even as BBMP struggles to resolve the issue of formal MoUs with citizen groups, we continue to oversee the upkeep of these precious water bodies.

Usha Rajagopalan, Chairperson, PNLIT 
Mukund Kumar, Trustee, Iblur Environs Trust Annapurna Kamath, Trustee, JaLaPoshan Trust Subramanian Sankaran, Managing Trustee, MAPSAS Trust

Related recent newspaper reports dated 30/10/2021 and 31/10/2021

 

Award for BBMP Lakes

Based on our close association with the BBMP, Lakes, for over a decade, we had nominated them for the Earth Day Network India's Star Municipal Leadership Award, 2021. 

The  Earth Day Network India is an environmental organization that  "aims to help Restore our Earth with initiatives that focus on ways to regrow green cover, rejuvenate aquifers, restore soil, refresh air, reduce and manage waste, encourage a switch to clean and green energies, and build environmental stewardship among youth. We are inspired by the global NGO EARTHDAY.ORG™ that grew out of the first Earth Day on 22nd April 1970, and today engages with over 50,000 organizations in some 190 countries to take the environmental movement forward."

We are pleased to tell you that the Chief Commissioner, Mr Gaurav Gupta, received the Star Municipal Leadership Award trophy at a small function in his office yesterday (29th October 2021).

BBMP Commissioner Mr Gaurav Gupta with Chief Engineer Ms Suguna, receiving the award on behalf of BBMP from Ms Neela of Earth Day Network. PNLIT Trustees Usha, Nandhini and Divya are also seen. 

Ms Leela, Ms Usha Rjagopalan, Mr Gaurav Gupta, Mr Mohan Krishna, Ms Suguna

Along with PNLIT, several other lakes groups such as MAPSAS, JaLaposhan Trust, Iblur Environs Trust have also been partnering BBMP with their respective lakes. We are all very happy with the recognition that BBMP, Lakes, has received, a well deserved one indeed. 

Here are the links to a couple of newspaper reports that were carried today. 

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/lake-rejuvenation-bbmp-wins-award/article37245040.ece

https://www.deccanherald.com/city/top-bengaluru-stories/lake-developer-bbmp-gets-award-1045529.html

Celebrate International Literacy Day 2021

8th September 2021 - We will be celebrating the International Literacy Day with Snehadhara Foundation and Pratham Books by hosting an online interactive session for children aged 10 years and below. Event details are attached below.

Pratham Books' stories this year are Satya, Watch Out! written by Yamini Vijayan and illustrated by Vishnu M Nair for younger children, and Puchku Seeks a Song, a Level 3 book written by Deepanjana Pal and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe for older children.

Entry is free but registration is a must! 

So do register here - https://bit.ly/2Y9wW0T

The registered email ids will get Zoom meeting ID. For any queries, contact pnlit.events@gmail.com .

A rare spider spotted at our lake!

We are delighted to tell you that a rare spider called Chrysilla volupe was recently spotted at the lake. The lucky (most observant?) photographer, Mr. Satishchandra Karanth, from the neighbourhood, is a regular visitor to the lake and literally spends hours peering through his lens. Read about how he came across this unique little spider, a serendipitous experience in itself which gave him a classic photograph as well! : 

While I was trying portrait shots of a garden lizard in our Puttenahalli lake bed last week this colourful rare spider popped up on its head!

Chrysilla volupe male on a garden lizard's head
(Pic: Satishchandra Karanth)

Chrysilla volupe female 
(Pic: Satishchandra Karanth)

Chrysilla volupe male
(Pic: Satishchandra Karanth)

This spider species was considered extinct for 150 years until it was found in Wayanad, Kerala in 2018!

Male spiders measure 5.44 millimeter long including stretched legs and 1.76 millimeter wide!

Females measure 2.61 millimeter long and 0.88 millimeter wide!

Males have a carapace in reddish orange color with two iridescent blue stripes. Legs have iridescent scales that make them appear golden and purple shades. Females have greyish carapace with grey eyebrows with all legs yellow in color. The female was described 139 years after the species was first described by Karsch in 1879. Until 2018, only males had been identified and described, based on the male type specimen described by Karsch.

More strength to Mr. Karanth and all the naturalists who are helping us map the biodiversity at our little Puttenahalli lake!

Bioblitz event at Puttenahalli Lake

The continuous rains this week didn't deter us from planning our first Bioblitz event at Puttenahalli Lake. The overcast sky this morning did make us wonder if the participants would turn up. They did and the drizzle stopped just in time for 15 participants - a good mix of college students, high school students and a couple of nature enthusiasts - to start their walk around the lake to capture and document their observations. The next two hours opened our eyes to a whole new world.

The highlight was the first sighting of fruits on a Buddha coconut tree (http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Buddha%20Coconut.html). We have four of these trees in our lake, all planted in 2010, over the years they have grown very tall indeed! For the last two spring seasons, we have been eagerly waiting to see them flowering. This year too we missed spotting the flowers and would not have noticed the fruit either if it hadn't been for today's event. It made us slow down, look around, and observe the flora and fauna. Bingo! We saw the fruits!

Buddha coconut fruit

Incidentally, this was the tree which a drunken miscreant had broken in Aug. 2011. Fortunately, we were able to get our gardener to match the broken piece to the trunk and 'bandage' it without any delay. The tree survived. 

Patching up the Buddha coconut tree, Aug 2011 (Pic: Usha Rajagopalan)

One of the younger participants was the first to spot a fungus kind of growth on the Singapore Cherry.  "Thanks to the rain," said Dr. Kaustubh Rao, who led the walk. "You can expect to see more fungi varieties."

Fungus on Singapore Cherry tree

The participants will be uploading their observations on iNaturalist platform, do check them out at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/puttenahalli-lake

If you want to spot the natural wonders at the lake, do come and join us in our next Bioblitz event (watch this space for the announcement of the next event).

Photos taken by: Govindan Iyer, Usha

Tracking the flora and fauna at our Puttakere

We are happy to have created a project space for Puttenahalli Lake on the iNaturalist platform 
- for all of us to track the flora and fauna found in our lake. 

Please explore  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/puttenahalli-lake  and add your observations - from the little spider in a corner of the gazebo at the lake to the statue-like heron waiting to snatch a fish from the water. 

To do this, you need to join the group. Please follow the directions given below: 

On Web browser:

- Go to https://www.inaturalist.org. Log in with your Gmail/Facebook ID or sign up with your email ID.

- On the top menu, go to Community >Project. In the input box, enter Puttenahalli Lake and click Go.

- You will see Puttenahalli Lake Project. Click on it. 

- On the top right side you will see Join this Project. Click and  become a member
of Puttenahalli Lake Project.

On Mobile
- Install iNaturalist from Playstore or Appstore.

- Log in as mentioned for Web browser above.

- Select Projects on the hamburger.
- Search for Puttenahalli Lake Project in the search box.
- Puttenahalli Lake Project will show up. Click on it. 

- Click on Join button to become a member.

Upload the photographs of birds, trees, plants, insects that you take at our Puttenahalli Lake
for everyone to see and admire.

 

- Do not worry if you don't know the name of the bird, tree, plant or insect.
This is a global community of naturalists. Someone from somewhere will identify it for you!

- Do not worry if the species is already uploaded. The more the better!

- Please upload good photos. The greater the clarity, the easier to identify the species!

- And please add only photographs taken at our Puttakere to this page!  

A quick update on the lake - While the sewage inflow has stopped and the rain is
diluting the sediment, it is still providing rich nutrition for the weeds to grow and
cover the water. 

                                  Removing weeds

BBMP is getting the weeds removed. This time, there are several new ones and we are
constantly sending photos to Dr. Subbu to identify! His comment on the two species
in the photograph is particularly heartwarming. 

"Chara sp. and Ottelia alismoides... These two mostly grow in clean waters:
like the lakes of Bangalore in the 1980s."

In spite of the impurities, the exposed water does look delightfully clean.

We hope it improves further in the days to come!