Wednesday, September 16, 2015

It’s airborne! City’s air is filled with microbes making us sick

Four types of bacteria in Bengaluru's air have become hyperactive and are triggering respiratory tract disorders among its residents; IISc wages war on dreaded dengue

Why are people falling sick in Bengaluru often these days? Have the immunity levels of Bengalureans dropped drastically? Are pollutants getting more dangerous by the day? Are new strains of virus or bacteria fast multiplying in the city? These are the questions that are being asked by medical experts and researchers in recent times.


While the brainstorming continues, a city-based environmental scientist has come up with a worrisome finding: Four types of bacteria (Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus and Salmonella typomerium) have become hyperactive in the city's air and are triggering fever and respiratory tract disorders among residents. The scientist Sivasakthivel S has set out to record the bacteria and fungi (bioaerosol) levels in the city. He submitted his findings to Bangalore University as part of his doctoral thesis titled—'Microbial diversity in ambient air associated with seasonal meteorological parameters' for which he was awarded a PhD last week.


Sivasakthivel told Bangalore Mirror that his objective was to study what kind of pathogenic bacteria and fungi are present in Bengaluru's air. "The bioaerosol level was compared with seasonal aspects like temperature and relative humidity to assess how these climatic aspects foster the growth of bioaerosols in air," he said.


Sivasakthivel's research spanning four years from 2009 to 2013 was conducted under the guidance of Prof N Nandini, chairperson, Environment Science department of Bangalore University.


Read more here.

Friday, August 28, 2015

No more dependence

As we celebrated the 69th year of independence, did you give a thought to the independence of your most-prized possession, your home? Is it possible for your home not to be so dependent on the grid – for electricity, water and the like? The good news is that you can take small steps to make your home independent in the true sense of the word.

Basic funda

If you are looking to buy a home, consider a project that aims to build a community which is independent in terms of natural resources. The place must attempt to bring about a sense of belonging among the residents towards the welfare of the community. Given the alarming rate of global warming, floods and droughts have become regular phenomena. The need of the hour is to build homes and infrastructure that can mitigate the damages caused by such natural disasters. Similarly, water and electricity are precious resources that need to be used intelligently. An environmentally-friendly home is one where a hygienic waste management system does not get jeopardised by an inefficient city waste management network, and air conditioners work at one-third the energy used by regular systems, These are houses that are well-ventilated; have floors that are friendly for residents suffering from rheumatoids and arthritis; their lush landscaping adding to the neighbourhood greenery and enhancing the quality of air, while reducing carbon dioxide in the air.

Think long-term

As a home buyer, you have every right to ask your builder to commit to the number and kind of treatment systems employed in the project and to what extent it will affect your demand for water supply. Venkat Chalasani, CEO, Samskruti Builders, agrees that it’s a good idea to discuss waste management and rainwater harvesting options. “Our projects not only segregate the waste, but also use the methane gas produced while composting the green waste. Black and grey water is purified and reused for flushing and gardening. Additionally, in all our projects,  we create enough capacity for storage tanks to collect the graded rainwater. 

Purified, potable rainwater is supplied to the community. These measures ensure all our communities are 70-100 per cent self-sustainable in terms of water,” he says. 

Decentralised waste management is  where the wet waste is handled at the individual home level through pits or smart bins and the recyclable waste is directed to the appropriate agency. It also makes perfect sense to think of energy design installations that reduce the use of power, while not compromising on comfort and convenience. This will mean the use of solar energy systems. It will mean the use of biomass gasification to convert waste into electricity.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Vishwakarma Awards

Samskruti Hoysala wins the medal of honor and the certification a Scroll of Green certification along with a letter of appreciation. @ the 7th Viswakarma Awards for the best Residential construction category by the CIDC.

CIDC is a Government initiative for encouraging good practices and for recognizing the best in the industry and at Samskruti Builders, we are honored and humbled to win the award.

Samskruti Hoysala wins the scroll of commendation at the CIDC Vishwakarma Awards 2015 under the Best construction project Samskruti Builders by Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC)



Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Why Samskruti Hoysala is worth it!



Samskruti Hoysala is a bioclimatic boutique apartment promises to make sustainable living a reality. Points that differentiate Samskruti Hoysala are-
i.    Stronger Building- Designed to be seismic zone lll complaint structure, though it is not compulsory in Bangalore to withstand higher intensity earthquakes and has longer life span.

ii.   Water: Four kinds of water available, expected to be 70-80% self-sustainable:
i.      Rainwater harvesting targeting almost 100% collection of rain water and storm water
ii.     Potable water is supplied to all the taps (for drinking, cooking and other house hold activities)
iii.   Solar powered hot water in all the relevant taps
iv.  Grey and black water is recycled, used for gardening, car wash, flushing, etc. after appropriate treatment.

iii.  Energy- Energy efficient design
i.         Allows free circulation of air, natural light and ventilation, thereby reducing dependency on artificial lighting and ventilation.
ii.    Solar powered water purification + heating
iii.   LED lighting in common areas reduces excessive energy consumption.
iv.  Centrally placed cooking gas bank

iv.  Food*- We take veggiescaping seriously (fruits+vegetables+greens)
i.         With several integrated garden spaces, over 70% vegetable requirement is grown in-house.
ii.     Community kitchen reduces wastage, encourages interaction and celebrates food.
iii.   Automated systems for hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics ensure easier maintenance and continuous supply of food
*Introduced first time in Bangalore in a residential project.
v. Waste management-
                      i.     Waste is carefully collected, selected and recycled.
                    ii.     Wet waste is treated by biogas plant, used for fuelling community kitchen, heating water during winter.
                   iii.     Organic waste is treated and used as manure.  
v.   Material selection-
i.      Materials, fixtures and fittings are selected thoughtfully to ensure healthy luxurious living, longer life cycle, easier recycling
ii.     Non VOC paints are used
iii.  Materials sourced close to site so appropriate saving done on lead time. Enabling better carbon credit points


Call us to know more: 9916217777 or write to us: sales@samskruti.in


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Beware! Those carrots could make you sick

Niranjan Kaggere writes in today's Bangalore Mirror...

The fresh and nutrition- rich vegetables sold in the markets of Bengaluru have left the state government worried! In a major shock to veggielovers several vegetables and fruit sold in the markets of Bengaluru tested positive for pesticide residue, particularly organo chlorine pesticides that can take toll on your nervous and digestive system and weaken muscles! 

A random check conducted by the Horticulture department run Bio Centre in Hulimavu on different vegetables has revealed shocking details about the 'freshness' and nutrition value of vegetables. 
Fruits like papaya, vegetables including cabbage, green chilli, capsicum, carrot, tomato, bottle gourd and ginger were found to contain considerable amounts of the banned pesticide. 


Acknowledging the results of the test, Horticulture minister Dr Shyamanoor Shivashankarappa said, "In a random check conducted recently at our centre on vegetables and fruits available from Bengaluru's markets, traces of the banned organo chlorine pesticide were seen. 


"The department has been advising farmers not to use these pesticides and us
e only those pesticides suggested by the department." Shivashankarappa added, "Dicofol pesticide was preferred by farmers to prevent flies and pests in Bhindi (okra), brinjal, bitter-gourd, chilli and beans crops. But the demand for these pesticides has drastically come down after awareness drives by the department."
Sources in the Horticulture department said that even though the number of farmers using organo chlorine pesticide has come down, a few still use it. 

"The government has already banned pesticides with these contents. Yet farmers continue to use them. Even though it safeguards the crop from pests and insects, the residue will remain in the vegetable. 


"Proper washing in warm water will help remove the content," revealed a senior official from the Horticulture department. 


Meanwhile, a consulting physician from a leading hospital told Bangalore Mirror that a short-term exposure to organo chlorine pesticide would result in convulsions, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, slurred speech and sweating. 


"Long-term exposure due to consumption of such vegetables may damage the liver, kidney and central nervous system," he said. Senior BJP Leader and MLC Ramachandre Gowda caught the government's attention about this trend at the Legislative Council and urged the government to discourage the use of pesticides with any of these harmful contents as they are a health hazard.