There is no Planet B

Today is World Environment Day and time once more to take some time off to of June, could we stop a minute in the rat race that we call living and think about what we are doing in our own little way, for our planet. You might say, what can I do, as a single person? But it's a strange paradox that even if the population of the world is a staggering seven billion people today, every little deed counts. Even the smallest effort on each one's part helps to sustain life and living on our planet.

The biggest issue we are facing in Bangalore today is a daily supply of fresh water. There are so many of us to share a finite supply of fresh water which does not equitably cover us all. We have to look at ways in which we can help ourselves and Rain Water Harvesting is the way to go. “Many layouts in Sarjapur and Whitefield have realised the efficacy of RWH,” reveals Jeff D'Lemos a RWH specialist. “I have helped many apartment blocks to put RWH in place and today they are so pleased to see the effects of their efforts. Not only do they get water which fills in tanks to use for common areas, toilets and washing cars, but many are even using filters to use the water for cooking and bathing too.”

Lakes in the city need to be saved, if we have to bring up the water table, which we have exploited mercilessly with borewells. Amazingly, it is five young children between the ages of eight and 12 in Bangalore, who call themselves Pancharatna or five gems in Sanskrit, who have begun a crusade to save the Narsipura Lake. The lake is in Vidyranyapura in North Bangalore and on World Environment Day, the Pancharatna Plus will be garnering the support of school children from local schools like Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir, MES among others. They will all meet at the lake and sing songs mainly in Kannada about nature and biodiversity.

The idea is to showcase the Narsipura Lake as a model and to enthuse and ignite other youngsters in other urban wards to wake up and take charge of their own bio wealth. These children have already rescued trees and turtles and the Wildlife Warden, and the BBMP has acknowledged their conservation efforts.

Disposal of our own kitchen wet waste is another issue. “Instead of chucking the wet waste out onto the road dump and create a huge stinking mess there instead, each of us can compost it in pits or a small terracotta composter and the enriched end product can be used to grow more food, plants, or feed a tree on the road,” says Wilma Rodrigues of Sahaas, an organisation that helps schools, institutions and hospitals across the city to manage their garbage.

Think of what you can do for yourself, your city and the environment on World Environment Day. And let your resolution make a difference, as we have no Planet B that we can hop onto, once we destroy this one.

The FB page is http://www.facebook.com/SaveTheBioDiversityOfNarsipuraLake