Paintings a waste: ABIDe

Paintings a waste: ABIDe
By: Chetan R Date: 2009-09-30 Place: Bangalore




Top planning body unimpressed by BBMP's project to beautify Bangalore, says funds should have been spent on infrastructure

ABIDe is not very impressed with the wall painting work that's in progress in Bangalore and thinks it's wasteful expenditure.

"Crores of public money is being spent when there are other issues to be addressed like filling up potholes, marking roads and constructing drain walls since the city's infrastructure during the rainy season is pathetic," said Professor M N Srihari, ABIDe (Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure and Development Taskforce) member and advisor to the chief minister on traffic and infrastructure.


Off the wall: BBMP's plans to brighten up walls across the city by depicting Karnataka's cultural heritage


The project

The initiative to beautify Bangalore is said to be BBMP commissioner Bharat Lal Meena's brainchild.

BBMP plans to brighten up compound walls along arterial roads, walls of flyovers, underpasses and railway bridges with paintings depicting Karnataka's culture and heritage, historical places across the nation and an appeal to keep the city clean. Some of these paintings can already be seen in Majestic, Magadi Road and the Lalbagh area.

"We will write to the state government to stop the ongoing work at the earliest," Srihari said. "We will raise the issue at a suitable platform because public money can't be spent like this when there are many infrastructure issues that need to be addressed."

No idea of cost

BBMP officials have their defence ready but refuse to reveal details of the funds for the project.

"The initiative is to beautify the city and create awareness among Bangalore's citizens on certain issues like keeping the city clean," said Dr S Khandre, BBMP's public relations officer.

"We don't have details on the funding as the work is being carried out at zonal levels," he added.