Puttenahalli lake festival

Elderly citizens, local residents and schoolchildren gathered near Puttenahalli Lake in JP Nagar on Saturday and engaged in many interesting activities as part of ‘Kere Habba.’

While a few were busy spotting bird species at lake, others engaged in story telling, making paper kites, experiment-based science activities, terrace gardening and drum sessions.

Organised by Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) with the support of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) and Arghyam’s India Water Portal, the ‘Lake Alive: Puttenahalli Kere Habba 2015’ was held after the successful launch of the ‘Kere Habba’ at Kaikondrahalli Lake in January this year.

The organisers maintained that the programme aims at creating an awareness over the sorry state of lakes and water bodies across the City.

Usha Rajagopalan, Trustee, PNLIT, said: “Rampant, erratic development in the City has drastically depleted lung spaces and water tables. Bengaluru's glory can be reclaimed when the government and citizens join hands together. Programmes like ‘Kere Habba’ will create awareness among the residents of the neighbourhood.”

The Habba will be held for a period of five years covering 12 lakes every year and reaching to a total of 60 lakes at the end of 2019, said CEO of NBF, Sridhar
Pabbisetty. “The objective of the event was to focus on sustainable development, engage local communities in lake rejuvenation initiative, and raise awareness about water problem in the City,” he added.