PUTTENAHALLI NEIGHBOURHOOD LAKE IMPROVEMENT TRUST
JP NAGAR
ABOUT PNLIT
Making Change Possible
Our strength lies in teamwork- with the government, with the community and with ourselves.
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PNLIT was registered in June 2010 with four founding trustees. Present board has seven members, all from the neighbourhood. PNLIT trust deed template can be seen here.
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Became official custodians of Puttenahalli Puttakere after signing an MoU with BBMP in May 2011.
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Primary focus is on nurturing the lake and sensitizing the community of its importance and making them stakeholders in its welfare
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Promote lake conservation rigorously through sharing information, knowledge, and experience.
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Assist the administration in local governance and problem solving
Our MoU with a validity of three years with BBMP was renewed in 2014 and 2017. On 04/03/2020, the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka passed a direction in WP 38401/2014 which reads “...the State Government shall not execute any such MOU with any Corporate Entity. However, this order will not prevent the State Government from taking funds from the Corporate Entities for rejuvenation of lakes.” Since then, BBMP has not renewed any MoU including citizen groups like PNLIT.
We and a few other sister organizations filed Interlocutory Applications contesting this decision of the BBMP. While waiting to be heard, we continue to maintain Puttenahalli Lake as diligently as before.
OUR TEAM
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.
We are a nature-loving, environment friendly, dedicated and committed group of individuals whose aim is to save the lake and its environment, preserve the biodiversity and ensure sustainability for the future generations. Our mission is to make the lake a thriving waterbody amidst the urban concrete jungle.
Chairperson
Usha Rajagopalan
MA, is a writer, and translator. Author of eight books in different genres, she has received national and international recognition by way of fellowships in fiction and poetry and won three times consecutively in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition organized by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Foundation, UK.
She is the Homi Bhabha Fellow 2023-2025.
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Managing Trustee
Arathi Manay
B.Tech, MBA (Finance). Works in the market research industry as an independent researcher. She has been actively involved in issues that affect citizens, including apartment management, waste management and lakes. She highlights these issues as a Community Anchor with Citizen Matters. This keen sportsperson, marathon runner is also an active blogger. https://arathimy.wordpress.com/
Treasurer
Nandhini Sriraaman
B.Com, A.C.A worked for 20 years in different organizations across Big 4, Retail, Education and social and environmental impact organisations in Financial Planning and Analysis, corporate accounting, management reporting, and assurance. She has been actively involved in improving Solid Waste Management processes in communities and local ward level.
Jt.Managing Trustee
Nupur Jain
B.Tech (Cosmetic Technology). A homemaker turned conservationist she is the prime example of what someone can achieve if only they set their mind to it. Puttenahalli Lake indeed groomed her to become a changemaker and a role model especially for stay-at-home women and young mothers. She likes to volunteer for other social causes.
Trustee
O.P.Ramaswamy
B.Sc, MBA, Chem. Engg (Mech), M.I.E.(India). Member, All India Management Association. He has a rich work experience of over 35 years in manufacturing and operations management.
Trustee
Sangita Agrawal
B.A (Dip. in Textile Design) started her career as a textile designer. She is an enthusiastic home gardener and a self-taught cook. An expert in preparing Indian dishes, she loves experimenting with different international cuisines. Her passion for cooking and gardening find expression in a food blog (blissofcooking) and setting up a bamboo farm.
Trustee
Divya Shetty
B.A.PGDBM. After working in advertising, Divya volunteered as an educator for children with special needs for a few years.
Former Trustee
Prasanna K.Vynatheya
Born and brought up in Bengaluru, he lived in Australia for more than a decade. As the Founder member of Kenneth Anderson Nature Society , he has carried out several conservation related work since 2007 in the region of Melagiri (part of Tamil Nadu). He has been actively involved in other social activities related to water conservation.
Core Volunteers
At PNLIT, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to our environment. We have an incredible team of passionate volunteers who work tirelessly to coordinate and organise unique environmentally-focused events for both children and adults. Furthermore, our volunteers contribute to producing high quality content for our newsletter, with articles, quizzes, and stunning images from the lake. Our volunteers hold the power to make a meaningful, lasting difference.
Editor, Ripples PNLIT Newsletter
Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Kutty
Widely travelled, passionate about teaching, keen badminton player, dog lover, currently learning to play the guitar, her zest belies her age.
Designer, Ripples PNLIT Newsletter
Jayashree Govind
Jayashree Govind, enjoys the Nuances of Nature and composing and capturing them through the lens of her camera is her passion. Especially understanding the bird-behavior and watching them in their natural habitat is her favourite pastime. Jayashree Govind worked in the software industry for over 24 years and is now a social auditor assessing the impact of NGOs/CSR projects on human society and communities.
Events Co-ordinator
Sapana Rawat
Sapana Rawat is an engineer by training with more than 20 years of experience in the IT field. Over the years she has been associated with various NGOs in different capacities. She has been a PNLIT volunteer since its inception and has been coordinating the events held at the lake.
Ms. Madhurima Das
Madhurima Das worked in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs before obtaining an MBA. She is currently working as a Senior Associate in Healthcare Analytics at PwC. Madhu is a passionate ornithologist and bird photographer.
Dr. Kaustubh Rau
Kaustubh Rau teaches biology at
Azim Premji University. He likes to help people connect to the natural world and discover the beauty and hidden wonders around them.
Resource Team
Dr K. Ranga Raju, retired Professor from the Civil Engineering Department, IIT Roorkee, presently works as a Hydraulic Engineering Consultant at Bangalore. He is an honorary member of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering.
Dr S. Subramanya, renowned ornithologist and naturalist. He was a senior faculty at the University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore, from where he retired in 2018. Besides studying various facets of birds, he specialises in studying heronries, wetlands, water birds and threatened birds.
Mr. Karthikeyan S, wears many hats – avid birdwatcher, photographer, interested in birds, insects, done several faunal surveys, author and Chief Naturalist, Jungle Lodges.
Ms. Deepa Mohan, is a theatre reviewer, carnatic musician/teacher, quizzer and nature writer/photographer. She is also an avid wildlife volunteer and educator. She has been conducting free and customised bird/nature walks in and around Bengaluru. She participates in surveys and nature education programs in other parts of the country.
Dr. Uday Kumar, is a polymer chemist retired from DuPont corporation. Currently engaged in birdwatching and putting out videos to create awareness. Also engaged in making and setting up nest boxes for birds mostly around Bengaluru. Dr Uday Kumar, J N Prasad and a few others started Hakkigoodu in 2018 to train people to build nest boxes for sparrows and other birds. https://birdnestbox.in/
Mr. J N Prasad has been a keen naturalist and bird watcher for the last four decades. He has been associated closely with the WWF-India Nature Clubs of India movement since its inception.
Mr. Samuel John is the co-founder of 'Spiders and the Sea', a social enterprise that works towards creating a world in which people have a close relationship with nature. He is a writer, photographer and researcher with a keen interest in spiders. His underwater video of our lake is one of its kind!
Mr. Vishnupriya Hathwar, naturalist and educator who specializes in Nature Based Integrated Learning.
Our Staff Our Strength
Our gardeners are very hardworking and dedicated. Over the years they have also become adept in rowing the coracle and keeping aquatic weeds under control. They learned basic electrical work, making Artificial Floating platforms, rigging up sprinklers, some PR and phototgraphy.
Ramu
Since Jan 2014
Somanna
Since Sep 2018
Corporate Partners
They play a vital role in nurturing the lake and spreading awareness about ecological imbalance, water issues, vanishing natural habitats and biodiversity. Funds and volunteers are particularly important in this process, and our corporate partners provide invaluable support for both. Few of our other long term partners in addition to the ones mentioned below are VMware, Deloitte Shared Services India Pvt.Ltd, Misys Software, Cisco, CAF America. We are grateful for their partnership and the commitment to our cause.
Over the past 13years, PNLIT have been partnering with many Corporates under their Employee Volunteering Opportunities. Some visited us monthly, some weekly and some for just few days but it was a truly wonderful experience to work with them, guide them and share our lake revival story with them. Every help extended by them goes a long way in nurturing OUR Lake. They helped us with gardening jobs, cleaning, making AFIs, helping with events and more. Some of the Corporate Volunteers who were part of our journey were- Adobe, Cisco, DCB Bank, Unisys, VMware, Bosch, HSBC, Genpact, Morgan Stanley, Oracle, Deloitte Shared Services India Pvt Ltd.
