Harohalli Lake in trouble? The lake officials don’t care to know the cause!
On the 27th, the Lake Walkers invited environmental activists to visit Harohalli Lake in North Bangalore. This 90-acre lake has significant water storage capacity. Members of the Green Circle visited the lake. They found 12 dead fish. These fish ranged in size from 12 to 18 inches. They were located along the lake’s periphery. To their surprise, they also found two dead pelicans, and one was in a dying condition. Dr. Selvarajan of Green Circle suspects that the fish died due to a deficiency of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in the water. Another possibility he considers is contamination from untreated sewage entering the lake. Green Circle raised this issue with the Commissioner of the Greater Bangalore Authority (GBA) and the Fisheries Department. They have also contacted the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). The lake Managers perhaps been instructed to remove the dead fish and pelicans. But it is unclear whether any further actions will be taken to prevent future deaths. The next steps to prevent future fatalities remain unclear. Dr. Selvarajan poses an important question: “If authorities claim the deaths were caused by low oxygen levels due to extremely cold conditions, then why did the pelicans die? These resilient birds are usually capable of surviving harsh weather.” Another local resident emphasized the urgent need for a thorough investigation into the quality of the water, stressing the importance of finding out whether similar tragic incidents have been reported in other lakes.
A Walk for Lake awareness campaign was organised by Green Circle on 7.12.25 at Avalahalli lake, Yelahanka, Bangalore. More than 1000 participated in the program. The walk started at Avalahalli lake with Yelahanka MLA S R Viswanath in the forefront along with Green Circle volunteers, Gram panchayat members, residents from the local apartments & layouts, Avalahalli village, BMS IT&M volunteers, NSS, NCC and Rotaract club. Children from Charitable institutions like People’s Trust and Vidya Gokula also joined the rally and staged cultural programs highlighting the need for saving the lake. A human chain and Aarthi were also staged during the rally. Nanje Gowda, Patron of Green Circle, says, ‘The city was once known for its numerous lakes. At one point, it boasted over 1,000 lakes; however, due to extensive urbanisation and extensive encroachment, that number has dwindled to fewer than 200.’ Residents were concerned that Avalahalli Lake could suffer the same fate as other lakes if timely action is not taken. A group of vigilant citizens, under the banner of Green Circle, launched a movement to save the lake four years ago. Navigating this task proved challenging, as the lake is surrounded by a maze of apartment buildings and a diverse array of layouts. Each twist and turn added an intriguing layer to the experience! Green Circle decided to engage residents, authorities and panchayat members. Yelahanka MLA S R Viswanath pledged his support. Green Circle found that the lake was home to about 75 bird species. Ramachandra, Vice President of Green Circle, says, ‘We found that illegal activities, including fishing and open defecation, are rampant as the lake had neither a fence nor a security guard. The water quality was poor and polluted. The inlets and outlets were clogged. We took up the matter with the local Panchayat Authorities and BBMP (now GBA). ‘We realized that the water quality is bad because the nearby colonies throw the untreated sewage into the lake,’ adds Kumar Kalyandurg, Secretary of Green Circle. Vidyasagar Arya from Green Circle coordinated with municipal authorities to apprise them of the need to survey the feeder canal (Kaluve) that connects to the nearby Krishna Sagara Lake. Chairman of Green Circle V Selvarajan says, ‘The canal is currently not linked to the lake, which leads to frequent flooding during the rainy season. Although the Panchayat began restoring the canal, the work was delayed due to a petition from some residents against the Kaluve rejuvenation, as the route passes through their plots. The present walk is to impress the locals about the urgent need to connect the lakes. The walk for lake awareness event started from Avalahalli lake and walked alongside the proposed canal and reached the Krishna Sagara lake, from where the canal originates. The walk ended at Avalahalli lake after the MLA inspected the Kaluve and its encroachment points. Singanayakanahalli Panchayat President Amravathamma also joined the walk. Other Panchayat members included Muni Reddy, Keshavmurthy, Prasanth Reddy, Manjunath, Nanje Gowda, Kran Kumar, Babu, Sathish Reddy, Girish, and others participated. From Green Circle Selvarajan, Ramachandra, Vasanth Kumar Shetty, Kumar Kalyandurg, Vidhyasagar Arya, Sandip Kumar Mukhopodhyay, Biju, Virabathrappa, and Vidya Badri joined the walk. Nanje Gowda, patron of Green Circle, proposed the vote of thanks
Green Circle birding & wildlife community listed birds early in the morning. Some species identified by them included the Golden Oriole, Zitting Cisticola and Grey Hornbills. Karthik, Vaijayanthi, Namrata and Selva participated in the bird watching and listing. The survey was undertaken in the Naniah park and People’s Trust green area. Birders recorded a list of 50 species in ebird portal
The activity was followed by Green Circle’s Geotagging of trees, the second phase, which tagged about 200 trees in People’s Trust campus. 25 volunteers from BMS Rotaract club participated in the program. Kumar Kalyandurg, Vasanth Kumar, Sandip, Selva and Biju joined the volunteers in listing the trees. Overall 283 trees were QR coded and tagged out of 1000 trees. Temporary labels were fixed and will be replaced with QR plates. Venu and Sunny, who curated the project, guided the student volunteers in tagging the trees. People’s trust, Managing Trustee Harish Uthaiah thanked all for the volunteering
A Seedball making project by the Lion’s Club of Bengaluru Parisara-Green Circle and People’s Trust in which 60 children from Sai Shankar Vidya Shala and members of Leo Club of Mewa Vanguard Business School participated. Dr V Selvarajan, Chairman of Green Circle, conducted the training for seed ball making. Harish Uthaiah, Managing Trustee of People’s Trust welcomed the gathering. Manjunath, President of Lions Club, thanked the audience for the support. 2056 seedballs were made by 8 teams of students who learnt the art of seed ball making. From Green Circle, Kumar kalyandurg, Vasanth Kumar, Sandip Kumar and Biju participated in the program
Green Circle has given the final shape to the above project with Team BMS. Project team met at BMS BSN block on 16.9.25 to decide the modalities for geo taginng of trees under a MOU entered between GC and BMS. The technical advice is given by BMS MCA team under the supervision of Prof Sridevei. The project will be executed in People’s Trust. Test launching will be done on 20th Sep. Once successfully launched, we will invite all for the inauguration of the project at BMS. The main aim of the project is to create a web application for identifying species name of any tree and generating a unique ID with QR Code for each tree. When someone scans the QR from any mobile device they will be redirect to a web interface showing the details of the tree they scanned. The user are provided with detailed information like the location of the tree which is tracked using GPS, images of the tree, species classification of the tree, detailed description of the tree and medicinal and environmental benefits of the tree. One the other side, the admin is provided with a dashboard with the list of all trees with its location and list of all volunteer , where can modify/delete any tree.
The technical team of this project consists of Prof Sridevi BMS, Student innovators Mr Venu and Mr Sunny Samuel from BMS
Nitish writes…… We extend our sincere gratitude to Selvarajan Sir and the Green Circle NGO for their support towards our project ClimAware, a proposed extension to SkyPulse. We are pleased to share that we have successfully filed a proposal to the Tech4Good Initiative for USD $4745 today. ClimAware is a low-cost early warning system developed by the IEEE ComSoc Student Branch Chapter at BMSIT. Unlike conventional approaches that rely heavily on expensive sensors, ClimAware utilizes everyday radio signals — satellite, FM, and VLF waves — to monitor weather variations hence keeping it extremely cost effective. By deploying the system strategically at Devanahalli, Kengeri, Varthur, and Nagasandra, it will be capable of providing early alerts for thunderstorms, lightning, and fog before they reach deep in the city. The initiative is designed to complement the already approved SkyPulse project, thereby strengthening Bengaluru’s weather forecasting ecosystem through faster, more reliable, and hyperlocal forecasts. With the support of Green Circle, we take an important step forward in building a climate-resilient Bengaluru. 🌍💡
Green Circle Dwarka recycles e-waste to fund tree planting drive.
In a mission to save environment, Green Circle Dwarka Delhi Chapter recycled e-waste in a tie up with Karo Sambhav , e-waste aggregator. ‘We have honoured our commitment to plant trees from the amount generated from recycling e-waste collected from Nayantara Apartments, Dwarka. Planting was done at the same apartment’ said Abha Gupta, Secretary of Green Circle Dwarka chapter.
She added that Karo Sambhav passed on the proceeds of collected e-waste to Green Circle , which was utilised for plantation as per agreement. A K Saigal of Krishna apartment said , ‘Green Circle will repeat this collection drive in coordination with Karo Sambhav and the activity will be extended to all Dwarka apartments in a phased manner’ Volunteers from Green Circle who participated in the drive included Chitra Jain ,Seema Mittal,Abha Gupta,Ashwani Saigal,Manoj De and P V Lakshmi. From Nayanthara Apartments, Meenakshi Garg, Nisha Singhal, Poonam Singhal, Pravin Singh, Naresh and Ambuj participated in the plantation drive. Meenakshi Garg of the Apartment said, ‘we are thankful to Green Circle that they utilised the money for planting saplings in our premises. On the one hand e-waste were properly recycled and on the other the money generated was used for planting trees inside our compound’
A report by Kumar Kalyandurg, Secretary Green Circle Bangalore
The occasion was the orientation workshop for freshers in BMS Institute. The session was ‘ecosensitisation of the new entrants’. As usual, Selva ji, with full energy, presented a very much educative & informative session about the conducive Environment at BMSIT Engineering College for 1st Semester Engineering Students. Sir also conducted a simple quiz involving students on the dais with little of humor added to the ambience. He also emphasized the need for improvising creativity in all spheres to excel. The PPT presentation was superb, with interaction with the students. Overall, the session was a memorable one for both the students and faculty. On behalf of Selva Sir & Green Circle, saying ‘Thank you’, Dr (Prof.) Tejaswini for all your efforts in conducting / coordinating such a lovely Session for the new comers to BMSIT.
Asst Commissioner agrees spot inspection to assess encroachment of the kaluve (Avalahalli lake canal)
Bangalore: The feeder canal for Avalahalli lake is available in the map, says survey report. A survey was conducted by revenue officials at the request of Green Circle more than a year ago. But the canal is only in the map, not in reality, says Vidyasagar Arya, a member of Green Circle. He adds, ‘The Panchayat officials arranged JCB to dig the canal as per survey number last year. We were confident that the canal (Kaluve) would be revived. It would connect Krishna Sagara lake in upstream and Avalahalli lake in downstream.’ Ramachandra of MSR NE County adds, ‘Our layout is the worst affected due to flooding during the rainy season. This year, the monsoon was very active and the layout was flooded on a few occasions.
If kaluve were rejuvenated as per the survey report, by this time, our flooding problem would have been sorted out. Avalahalli lake also would have water supply.’ Green Circle submitted a petition to the Yelahanka Tehsildar, under whose jurisdiction the canal lies. But the authorities were sitting on the file without any action. Panchayat officials expressed their inability to act. Four plot owners had given a petition to divert the canal. The canal passes through their plots. Green Circle ran from pillar to post to get the canal alive but in vain. Recently, Green Circle visited the Tehsildar. He informed them that the file has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Asst Commissioner, Bangalore North. Green Circle team visited the office of Asst Commissioner, North Bangalore Dr Kiran, KAS and presented the case. He gave a patient listening to the team and ordered spot inspection to check the reality. ‘Soon we are expecting some action from the authorities. We will not leave any stone unturned to get the kaluve rejuvenated’ said Kumar Kalyandurg, Secretary of Green Circle. Vasantha Kumar, Biju, and Selvarajan were also present during the representation. Dr Kiran assured that the necessary steps would be taken. Once survey numbers show the canal path, there is no question of deviation. Green Circle members are pinning their hope on the survey report, and feel that it is a long-drawn-out battle.
GREEN CIRCLE 