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Making flyover walls your canvas
Cruising through the city's flyovers may soon be like an artistic escapade if a proposal by PWD Minister Anil Deshmukh sees the light of day, reports HT Correspondent.
Cruising through the city's flyovers may soon be like an artistic escapade if a proposal by PWD Minister Anil Deshmukh sees the light of day.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is mulling over a proposal to invite schools and citizens' groups to make the walls of 37 flyovers in the city their canvasses and paint as they please.
Walls of many flyovers in Mumbai are replete with illegal advertisements, political hoardings, posters and random messages. In a move to deter people from defacing the walls in this manner, the Public Works Department Minister and MSRDC-in charge Deshmukh has suggested that they allow artistically-inclined Mumbaikars to paint over them.
"Schoolchildren paint the walls in many localities to prevent people from misusing them. So why not flyovers?" said Deshmukh. He plans to write to prominent school principals and art groups requesting them to come forward, take up a nearby flyover and paint the walls. The groups will have to bear the costs themselves. However, the details still have to be worked out.
Recently, Deshmukh came across the paintings on the outer wall of a subway beneath the approach road to the Bandra-Worli sealink and was so impressed by the work of the Bandra Reclamation Area Volunteers Organisation (BRAVO), which got it painted by students and locals during the 'Celebrate Bandra' festival in November 2005, that he wants similar projects to be undertaken everywhere.
BRAVO head Vidya Vaidya said provided the MSRDC sponsored the materials the project could be a "success". "This is a great idea. It will give people the opportunity to come together and freely express themselves. It should be implemented everywhere. For flyovers on the outskirts, village children can be roped in to paint the walls," said Vaidya.
MSRDC MD Ramanath Jha agreed that "lot of" flyovers were in need of attention but said they would have to consider the rules of the Indian Road Congress before making their decision. "We will need to examine the proposal and the rules relating to flyovers. If the groups agree to paint as per the standards I don't think there should be a problem," he said.
Rajkumar Sharma, Co-ordinator for Action for Good Governance in India, however, feels that MSRDC, MMRDA and BMC should firstly do their duty by maintaining their respective flyovers and ensuring cleanliness before taking up such projects. "They have no control over people and political parties abusing the walls. Let them first keep the flyovers clean and then ask citizens to take up the responsibility," said Sharma.
Another problem is that miscreants could deface the walls even after they have been painted over. "Who will then take responsibility?" asked Sharma.
