Jurassic Park

horticulture

Activists urge for zero firecrackers near lakes Jayanthi Kallam, co-founder and executive director at Avian and Reptile Rehabilitation Centre, says, “Urban wildlife suffers the most during festivals. We wish to create awareness in areas near lakes to reduce firecrackers, large bonfires and loud activities.

vigil

photosynthesis

Is Pattandur-Agrahara Lake being encroached by a private group? But even before they could enter the lake area, they ran into an illegal wall. Literally. ​

This act of scribbling graffiti on trees is known as ‘Educated Ecological Illiteracy’ and awareness for the same should be created among people – AN Yellappa Reddy, environmentalist

Hyder Ali

Tipu Sultan

Pourakarmikas draw the line at littering on streets For quite some time now, several households in the area would dump garbage along the compound wall of IIM-B. This went on, despite regular garbage collection vehicles from BBMP servicing the neighbourhood.

By Amit KumarIn the 1980s, Steven Spielberg spent around two years – and $11 million – looking for ET (The extra-Terrestrial). The film went on to become the highest grossers of all time until another Spielberg masterpiece,, came along.Our very own Lalbagh seems to have set out on a similar quest; it is looking for EI (The Educated Illiterate).Fed up with the graffiti that visitors scribble on the many exotic trees in the 240-acre park, thedepartment has readied a plan of imposing a fine of Rs 500 on anyone caught in the act. But first, the department wants to educate the visitors about the harm that their act causes to trees and rocks – Lalbagh has trees that are over 100 years old; the central rock is 3,000 million years old and was declared a national geological monument in 1916.An official of the horticulture department told Bangalore Mirror: “If you go around Lalbagh, you will be surprised to see so many trees which have messages like ‘x loves y’ or ‘x wants to marry y’ or ‘x wants to live with y’ and so on. Lalbagh is a place not just for leisure seekers but also for environment enthusiasts and reserachers; they complained to us asking us to save trees from graffiti.There have also been instances where names are being painted on rocks. We take pride in having a rock that is more than 3,000 million years old but these kinds of act will destroy our heritage.”The security guards who oversee upkeep of the park have been asked to keep aon those indulging in such graffiti. They have been asked to educate people caught scribbling their name or some other nonsense. “We have decided to educate people against these kinds of graffiti and the slapping a fine is also one of the proposals we are considering,” said Chandra Shekar, deputy director of the horticulture department. The department proposes to levy a fine of Rs 500 on those caught scribbling on trees or rocks.Renowned environmentalist AN Yellappa Reddy said that visitors need to be educated about the harm that scribbling causes to trees. “People should have a basic sense that we shouldn’t harm trees in any manner. Writing on trees using blades or other sharpeners can damage trees internally; it harms the soft vascular tissues. These tissues are like veins and arteries in a human body. Damage to the tissues may result in cutting down of water supply during. We need to remember that when the soft tissues get damaged, it causes more harm to the vascular bundle present at the roots of trees. Slowly, the tree loses its strength.“This kind of graffiti on trees is known as ‘Educated Ecological Illiteracy’ and the awareness should be created among these people. Lessons on protecting trees are taught in primary school. These people need to be reminded of their primary school lessons once again,” he said.Lalbagh lovers have welcomed the move. “I was part of the Lalbagh walk and was fascinated with the history of its trees. However, when I saw the graffiti, it looked very depressing. It is nice that the authorities have finally woken up,” said Chitra Kumar, a techie.Construction of Lalbagh was commissioned byin 1760; but it was his son,, who completed it. The biological garden has 1,000 different species of flora and exotic trees from Iran, Afghanistan and France, among others.