Today, 11th June, we complete 13 years of nurturing Puttenahalli Lake in south Bengaluru. Our team was registered as Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) on this day in 2010 with Prasanna Vynatheya, Arathi Manay, OP Ramaswamy and me as founder trustees. Prasanna stepped down. Other residents, Nupur Jain, Sangeetha Agrawal, Divya Shetty and Nandhini Sriraaman joined the Trust.
Our Vision was to: Encourage local communities to partner with the government to restore and nurture lakes in Bengaluru.
Mission: Make Puttenahalli Lake, a People’s Lake, replicable model of a citizen led conservation project.
Synopsis of Activities: a) Nurture the lake and its surroundings; b) Develop the lake as a focal point of promoting environment awareness; and c) Encourage and activate the local community to participate in nurturing the lake.
How did we fare? Let the photographs speak for themselves.
The landscape now has more concrete but the lake has become a green healthy space for humans and safe habitat for birds, butterflies, fish, reptiles and more (see links below). The credit for this goes in a large part to the support we have received from the community around the lake. From 2010 to now, we have been meeting maintenance expenses with donations from residents. This uniqueness makes it truly a People’s Lake.
It takes a community to nurture a lake! Heartfelt thanks from all of us to the many donors, volunteers, well-wishers, corporate partners, government officials, and knowledge experts.
It is not yet time to rest on our laurels. As urban lake conservationists, we will always face challenges but resolving two long standing ones will enable us to complete the transformation of our Puttakere (small lake in Kannada) and take appropriate steps to ensure that the lake continues to thrive. This is our birthday wish!
Usha Rajagopalan "Lakeika" 
We, the well wishers of the lake, who have watched you and your team overcoming so many hurdles, to bring it to it’s pristine beauty, pray to the Almighty to grant your birthday wish for the lake since He has to uphold the Tamil axiom ” Muarchi vudayor igazhchi adayar”
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