BBMP drive to prevent defacement of walls

BBMP drive to prevent defacement of walls

Arjun Ganesh
Murals depict State’s architectural and cultural heritage apart from tourist spots
— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Showcasing heritage: This wall on a prominent road in Bangalore being painted by artists as part of BBMP’s drive to beautify the city.
Bangalore: With the aim of beautifying the city and bringing down defacement of public property, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has taken up a special drive. A drive around the city will now seem educational too, what with the civic authority painting walls with pictures of historical monuments and events.

The drive has been taken up to reduce defacement and dumping of garbage, according to Chief Engineer (West zone) B.T. Ramesh.

Theme
“We want the paintings to reflect the State’s vibrant culture, and thus, the theme is ‘Karnataka Vaibhava’. Through the initiative, we hope to educate the people about keeping their environs clean, while beautifying the city’s walls,” he said.

Locations with high pedestrian and vehicular movement have been chosen. The civic authority is also looking for a tie-up with the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) as a majority of the paintings are of important tourist destinations, sculptures and historical events.

More than 50 painters have been identified to beautify the walls in each zone. R. Kumar, a painter, said that they demarcated the walls and allotted space for each painting after receiving photographs of sculptures and tourist destinations from the BBMP. “The wall is then plastered and painted with the background colour. The painting is completed by the artist with skill and precision,” he added.

R. Sivanandam, an artist who was painting the walls on Platform Road near Majestic, said: “This initiative should be taken up in other cities also. That way, people will think twice before dumping garbage, spitting or defacing the walls.”

Mr. Kumar said that they used a special weather-proof paint. The painters were all from an agency that employed them to paint banners and film posters. “We are 10 members in all and we get paid Rs. 300 every day. We should ensure that the paintings measure 10 ft x 12 ft,” he said. The initiative began on August 15, and more than 40 roads have been