Conservation and protection of forests can never be done efficiently without the active participation of the public, S V Ranganath, Chief Secretary of the State, has said.

Emphasising on participatory forest management and development, he spoke about forest conservation with the aid of technology and e-governance.

To call attention to the deteriorating condition of Bangalore’s lakes, a group of seven photographers have released a short documentary film called Bangalore Lake Diaries, which they hope will generate public momentum to save these water bodies before it is too late.

The right kind of picture may well speak a thousand words and it is this sort of visual impact that is sought by the documentarians. The six-minute short film attempts to show the deplorable condition of 10 neglected lakes such as the Arakere Lake, Kaikondrahalli Lake, Halasuru Lake, Puttenahalli Lake, Dorekere Lake, Varthur Lake, Rajarajeshwari Nagar Lake, Somasandra Palya Lake, Uttarahalli Lake and Agara Lake.

The BWSSB had warned that owners of properties which have borewells would face action, if the borewells were not registered by March 31. The Water Board had said defaulters would have to pay fine or even undergo prosecution. It was also planning squads to crack down on unregistered borewells.

But a BWSSB official has said that there are no specific rules to mitigate illegal borewells or penalise people who have not registered theirs. The fate of the borewell registration deadline may not be too different from that for installing rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems at homes.

Plan for sewage treatment plant takes shape, but mafia may pose hurdles

Government officials who were apathetic towards the historic Sarakki lake for long seem to have woken up to the need to save the water body. On Friday, they visited the lake for a reality check on its status. The officials are believed to have realised that a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed last month in the High Court of Karnataka over the plight of the water body by People's Campaign for Water (PCW), an NGO.

This World Malaria Day, April 25, the State has a reason to smile, as the number of malaria cases has gone down drastically in the last three years with no deaths being reported since 2011.

As a step towards increasing the capacity to detect, control and prevent food-borne and other infectious diseases, a proposal will be sent to the Centre by the State to include Mysore and Chitradur

All private water tankers in the City will henceforth have to mandatorily mention the source of water in their trade licence.

As part of the drive to keep a tab on private tankers supplying water, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has directed all the private water suppliers to obtain licences from competent authorities. Private tankers have also been asked to make sure that they have the registration certificate and permit issued by the Regional Transport Authority.

The river is now one big sewerage line; its catchment area once fed 1,775 lakes

The Arkavathy River was once the lifeline of the region. But all that is left of it today are just fond memories. The river basin that used to boast of 1,775 lakes along its pathway, now has only a few hundreds surviving.
Even during the rainy season, some of the lakes are not filled with water from the basin. The industries along the river stretch and sand mining activity have practically destroyed the river bed, residents claim.

Cough up more tax for registering second vehicle
Going for a second car? Think again. For, once the “congestion tax” comes into play, not only will one be required to cough up double tax during the registration of the second vehicle, but also show additional parking space to obtain vehicle permit.

Further, one will be have to pay additional entry fee to enter certain pockets of the City during peak hours.
Among moves to reduce traffic congestion across various metros in the country, Union Ministry for Urban Development has suggested imposition of congestion tax the in central business district areas in all major cities.

The rising pollution in the City has led to drastic increase in asthma among children during summer, according to a study conducted by Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) of Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

According to the study report, the incidence of asthma has gone up by 10 times in the last 16 years - from 2.8 per cent in 1994 to 28.8 per cent in 2010. Construction works, road widening, tree felling and increasing vehicular population have contributed in making Bangalore the asthma capital, said Mahesh Kashyap, a research fellow with CiSTUP. He was delivering a lecture at a workshop on fuel efficiency on Tuesday.