Flower power on the flyover

Flower power on the flyover
BBMP continues beautification drive by lining Yeshwanthpur and Sirsi flyovers with flowerpots. Next in line: Old Airport Road
B K LAKSHMIKANTHA


It’s springtime along the Sirsi and Yeshwanthpur flyovers with 300 pots of flowers adding colour to an otherwise dull drive.
This is the first time the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is beautifying flyovers with flowers. It’s earlier attempts at giving the city a facelift included plants at all road medians and parks and painting walls.
“We have already placed 300 pots on the Sirsi flyover and filled the pots with red soil and sand and we will add farmyard manure for plant nutrition, said Joint Director (Horticulture) A Narayanaswamy. The pots are 3 feet long, 1.5 feet wide and 1.5 feet high.
The concept of a pot culture is new, said Narayanaswamy. “Instead of planting saplings, we are using pots since the medians are very small and there is scope for soil formation,” he said.
The plants will be watered at around 2 am when traffic is low and the pots will ensure that the water does not flow out and stagnate creating traffic problems.
NOTHING FOR K R MARKET
“We also wanted to install flowerpots under the Sirsi Flyover near K R Market but we dropped the plan for fear of miscreants plucking the flowers or even stealing the pots,” Narayanaswamy said. The BBMP has taken up the beautification of 66 places including circles and medians at a cost of Rs 787 lakh. Work on the medians near ITPL Road, Kengeri Road, BIAL Road and Bannerghatta Road are already complete.
After the Sirsi Flyover, the BBMP plans to place flowerpots on the Old Airport Flyover.
WHAT’S IN THE POT?
BBMP is planting four varieties of flowering plants — Euphorbia Neriifolia, Bouvardia, Platonia and Ficus Black. They are known for their aesthetic value and are good for the environment, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.





Workers fill pots along the Sirsi Flyover with red soil and sand. The pots will ensure water does not flow out and stagnate, creating traffic problems