Bangalore’s Dying Lakes

City of Lakes

Bangalore once known as the ‘City of Lakes’ and ‘Garden City’, was the most sorted out place to visit for its ‘cool’ climate and hill station appeal. Sadly that’s not the case anymore. Bangalore has changed at an alarming rate. Urbanization does its share of damage to city’s environment. Pollution is on the rise. The air is now smoggy, water and soil is contaminated with pollutants. Lakes and parks have disappeared and stadiums and residential complexes have come up in their place.

Ulsoor Lake

Days of Kempe Gowda

Bangalore had 280 lakes when the city was founded by Kempe Gowda, in the 16^th century. The lakes and tanks were man-made for drinking water, irrigation and fishing. They influenced the micro-climate in the city and replenished groundwater in the surrounding areas since ages.

Save Your Planet | Dive Into A Local Car Pool

Sometimes it seems as if everybody leaves the house, goes for lunch and get off work at the same time. Everyone zooms about at top speeds as if their emergencies are primary. That’s cool, but before you head for your vehicle or hail down a rickshaw, think about carpooling, van pooling. Catch a friend or foe who is heading towards your destination to hitch a ride.

HITCH A RIDE

Try carpooling. By pooling resources, we use less energy and pollute less.

Brimful Of Garbage

Taking a walk down the street, for some fresh air and a glimpse of Mother Nature feels like a thing of the past in Bangalore City. Watch out for are open pot holes that look like muddy puddles (and vice versa) that can ruin your Puma shoes or your 100 rupees chappals from Commercial Street. Watch out for overflowing choked drains as well. However, the menace that takes the cake with its fragrance and beauty is the brimming dust bin.

GENESIS

It got there because of you and me. We started it, and we continue to nurture it. Then we complain about it.

Residential areas have their own blooming garbage zones. That’s the road we don’t take, cos it stinks! But guess what, you, me and our mothers started the stink spot. Developed countries have mammoth trucks with good garbage compressors to collect maximum amount of garbage for treatment and disposal.

Why Is Waste Management So Haphazard In India?

The garbage van takes a stroll around town, spilling stinky kitchen waste on its way and lets not forget the poor chaps who clear up the garbage on the road side. They have no gloves, safety boots or good equipment that can help them rake up the garbage, instead of using their bare hands. It’s a sorry sight. It can be changed.

REALITY CHECK

You should check out the dustbins that ‘hang out’ on Brigade road, on the pavement, railings and road.

Rubbishing Responsibility

Dirty and overflowing, who would dare to flip open the lid and throw in trash? Or even walk on that side. We also have lovely people who chuck in opened half-full cola bottles, which of course leak and add to the beauty. Well, since the dust bins on Brigade Road got so pretty, they were removed. Smart move. You can’t expect people to carry around their garbage, so when no one is looking it is tossed it in a dirty corner which eventually becomes a big garbage pile.

Great landmark seriously. (“Hey, Im standing next to the garbage dump near Pecos round the corner”) We need garbage bins at regular intervals on roads (EVERYWHERE!) so folks can find each other.

To be clean, a city has to face and solve many problems which otherwise leads to unsanitary conditions and poor health. Bangalore needs some strict regulations to get clean, green and healthy. The door to door collection of garbage is big improvement in reducing the amount of waste strewn around the city, but having said that, Bangalore has a long way to go. Maybe implement some global best practices.

If you have garbage related problems, irregular garbage collection, monkey and mosquito menace and other stinking problems call these numbers to lodge a complaint:
BBMP: 080 2200031/22221188
CONTROL ROOM: 080 22660000
BWSSP: 080 22945129
080 22945240
Until we see better days, we need to Swalpa Adjust. (Don’t stop walking though)
Go green.

Save Bangalore’s Tree Cover | Be An Alert Citizen

Though Bangalore is changing at a fast pace, it will always be a Garden City in the minds of Native Bangloreans. Despite being well aware of the fact that it isn’t so anymore. Today, the city is clamoring to be heard by policy makers and the Local Government.

Rajbhavan Road Being “Developed”

We have accepted ‘change’ because it’s an inevitable factor of a growing economy. Bangaloreans may have been a little slow to react while the city’s green cover was stripped, but of late we hear voices raised in dissent. Newspapers speak of angry residents up in arms around Lalbagh and other formerly green areas. People are standing up for Bangalore’s trees. You should too.

Bangalore’s Trees Are NOT Defenseless

Bangalore is changing by the day. The city has witnessed an unprecedented depletion of tree cover in the name of development, widening of roads and a not so well thought out infra structure planning. High-rises of concrete and glass spread out from the center to the out skirts of the city, eating up lakes, trees and shrub land in its wake. Despite oft-flouted policies meant to stop such unhindered urbanization. Builders are legally bound  to get the Forest Departments permission before they  cut down trees. For the Forest Department to give the go-ahead, developers are supposed to plant two saplings for every tree that is to be felled. Theoretically.

We need to stop being complacent and stand up for whats happening to our city. If you come across a potential case of unauthorized tree felling, make the effort to demand a letter from the guy in charge. He should have permission letters and certificates from the Deputy Conservator of Forests (Bangalore Urban Div). If not, you can stop the tree felling by contacting the forest department.

Stumped

Last Trees Standing

Reach them at –

~ Forest Department (Tree Officer): 2334 3464
~ Range Forest Office: 2334 3543

Read more about how to handle tree-abuse situations here, at the Environment Support Group’s website. If you need guidance you can also call the Environment Support Group (ESG) @ its helpline – Telephone 22441977. ESG has been doing some pioneering work across India since 1996.

Go Green.

Bangalore’s Blistering Barnacles

Bangalore has evolved from a calm green small town to a not so green, not so calm and an ever growing metropolitan. Development and progress always means growth and betterment from the present state of affairs to a higher standard. In the process the city has faced a lot of environmental problems and issues of the environment are always a deep concern to it’s citizens.