Empanelled artists of the civic body have begun beautifying the state capital with fresh wall paintings in various areas from Thursday. The drive is being undertaken with an eye on the upcoming Hockey World Cup being hosted here.
The drive started with painting of various walls in the vicinity of Kalinga Stadium as well as on Bidyut Marg between Governor House Square and Jayadev Vihar Square. The plan is to complete painting of the walls on a 40-kilometre stretch of the city roads by mid-November.
“We have submitted the plan to paint various characters on the walls which will not be similar to the previous wall painting drives in the city. We are going to paint figures of animals — such as tigers and Olive Ridley turtles that are closely associated with the wildlife of the state,” said an artist involved in the job on Bidyut Marg.
In September, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation empanelled 15 groups and individual artists to take up wall painting as part of city beautification drive for the men’s hockey world cup. Prominent among the artists were those from Odisha Modern Art Gallery, Krutika, Kanak Arts, Bakul Foundation and Sutra Advertising.
“This is the first time that we have empanelled many individuals and groups of artists for the beautification drive. Each of them have submitted their plan of painting that was approved by the tourism as well as our officials. The work started on Thursday and will be completed soon,” said a senior civic official.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation took up a similar drive during the conduct of Asian Athletics Championship last year when several walls of the city were painted with graffiti and portraits of eminent sports persons. City junctions and flyovers were also painted with urban dynamics of the state capital.
Sources said that the artists this time has submitted their wall painting plans focusing on individual themes such as wildlife, urban as well as rural life and culture, hockey, smart city components and monuments and heritage treasures of the state capital as well as the state at large.
“We have decided to go one step ahead from what has been done in the previous drives for wall painting in the city. Our initiative has been lauded at various platforms throughout the country and we want to continue this job. This fresh drive will cover all the walls of the city,” said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
Rasulgarh resident Sanjay Pati said that the new painting work was good as it would provide a better look to the city. But, he opined that the civic body should make efforts to maintain the paintings as well. “I remember the first such drive that was very good and looks vintage. But nmost of the paintings are damaged now,” said Pati, a schoolteacher.