Artists paint a cricket graffiti in Bangalore. Bangalore News Photos

Bangalore, Nov. 20: If you can’t beat them, join them.

That’s the approach the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the IT hub’s civic body, has taken to keep walls in the city free of graffiti, posters and advertisements.

Instead of political slogans and film posters, the city’s walls are now a window to Karnataka’s cultural heritage and the corporation hopes people won’t disfigure its oil-based paintings depicting the ancient temples of Hampi and Pattadakal, or the state’s performing arts such as Yakshagana.

Besides, pictures of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and other sport stars are coming up on the walls of playgrounds, all painted by small-time “banner” artists.

“Eventually, we plan to cover most of the walls,” said Bharat Lal Meena, the corporation’s commissioner. “We have identified BBMP’s own buildings and then parks,” he said, adding that they would, however, focus only on main roads and not residential areas.

The Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act specifies a Rs 1,000 fine or imprisonment up to six months for violators.

In Calcutta, some localities have managed to keep their walls free of graffiti only because residents threatened not to vote parties which defaced them.

An artist in Bangalore said the whole idea was flawed.

“They are really atrocious paintings. Not only that, none of them is going to last for a season,” said painter and sculptor Balan Nambiar.

“Mosaic wall decorations may last many years, but no pigment-based colour…oil, water or tempera…will last more than a couple of months,” he said.

Commissioner Meena said the corporation expected the paintings to last four to five years and also planned to have a group of artists for a periodical “touch-up”. He did not specify the budget for the painting project, but said it could run into “a few lakhs of rupees”. The artists were mostly hired and would get wages daily.