Bangalore (water, waste, and pollution)

How much waste ends up in lakes?

40% of all cities waste end up in lake (500 million litres a day)

What happens when waste is dumped into lakes?

Creates an anaerobic environment of methane and foam which easily starts fires

History of lakes?

Over the last 4 decades Bangalore has lost four fifths of its bodies of water, Bangalore has had lakes since the 8th century

Usha Rajagopolan

Took her 10 years to save lake puttandhalli, urged council to help revive the lakes, in 2010 she formed a lake improvement trust

Method of lake restoration?

Usha and her group used PVC pipes to create floating islands with bio filter plants to clean the lakes, after 5 month there was clear improvement

Where is project exhale from?

Group of 20 people from Maastricht university (Netherlands)

What did project exhale do?

Helped 2500 slum communities by discussing with women their preferred way to cook and then basing a cover with a pipe that redirected smoke out of the house on their opinions

Problems with smoke?

Wood is used for cooking in slum communities which produces smoke, exposure to smoke is the number one cause of death in children under five

Waste management activists

Activists have joined up to create a biogas facility, processes 600kg of waste a day, can make money of carbon waste (carbonlites)

Waste management

Illegal dumping sites are prevented by hiring of marshals and a 200 rupee fine

Waste management education

Padmashree Balaram, a chemistry teacher, inspect trash and educates citizens