Dying Trees Shrinking Lakes- Sounding A Death Knell

Chirping birds, swaying palms, gentle breeze and colourful dawn.

Morning walks sure energise you. But when you see many old trees dying and the lake shrinking, you feel anguished, sad and angered- all at the same time. The other day I observed hundreds of Babool (acacia) trees in Yapral Lake dying a slow death.  Am sharing few pictures taken a year apart at the same spot around the Lake. See for yourself the damage and destruction that mankind is causing to the environment. If we, human beings, don't mend our ways, it may be too late. Just too late!

Baya Weavers make their nests on Babool trees. With the trees gone, where will the weaver birds make their nest?

And many other birds thrive on the greenery. Will we see such birds in our neighbourhood in future?

Another major waterbody which lost half of its area is the Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh. It acts as the flood balancing system between Godavari and Krishna rivers. Do see the maps and the pictures in our story below:

Kolleru Lake- constantly encroached over 30 years!

The floods of 2015 in Chennai were also caused by encroachment of the flood banks of Adyar river which flows through the city. You may browse our story below:

Chennai Floods Man Made

Similarly, the flooding of our house in Secunderabad in Oct 2020 was caused by encroachment and blockade of free flow of rain water which existed for centuries. See the damage it caused in the story below:

Flood Fury

Ghumakkad has been highlighting environmental degradation through our picture stories. Like-minded folks who care for the environment, may browse the following stories:

Beat the Plastic Pollution - World Environment Day 2023

Only One Earth - World Env Day 2022

Reimagine, Recreate Restore - How to restore the environment? World Env Day 2021

Mutualism by Nature - how few species are dependent upon one another

Shrinking Urban Lakes- Impending Disaster

What Can We Do? - Practical things to do by individuals

Let us not turn a blind eye towards environmental degradation of any kind.

Thanks for browsing. Every person counts in this battle to save the environment.

      -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 26th Oct 2023

#environment #deforestation #saveourlakes #ghmc #encroachment #everypersoncounts #yaprallake #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #savethetrees #greenearth #treesareourlife #pollution

World Environment Day 2017

Another 5th June.
Another World Environment Day.
Press clips, speeches, Government sponsored advertisements (ads), CSR ads, social media footage, tweets.
It ends there.
USA quits Paris meet on environment. Nothing happens.
Proves the point.
Mankind is paying lip service to the cause of environment.

Our previous stories can be accessed at the links below:
Chennai floods are man made
Shrinking of Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh (see the maps therein)

We continue to destroy lakes and ponds and encroach river banks and green zones!
Shame.

Ghumakkad has selected three pictures taken during 2017 and poses questions to each one of us.

What can we do? What can I do?

Ghumakkad firmly believes that every person's effort counts in preservation of the environment. Be it keeping your surroundings clean and green, or vermi-composting your kitchen waste, or avoiding the use of plastics, or using solar energy at home (for cooking, heating the water or generating electricity or recharging cell phones etc)-- each one of us can make a difference! 
Therefore, let us not wait for somebody else to improve the environment, let us do it ourselves-- however small our effort be.

Some of you may have acted on our previous appeals:
Keep surroundings clean
What every person can do? 

Remember, every person counts in this ongoing battle!

Happy Environment Day!

   Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 5th June 2017