Bhubaneswar, May 2: Six to eight months later you might not be able to recognise the capital. The state government is planning to give the city a green facelift that will be visible as soon as you touchdown at Bhubaneswar airport.

Sources said the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) were going to “adopt” various stretches in the city.

They will take up beautification projects to give a makeover to the stretch from the Airport-Nandankanan Road up to KIIT University Square. The same plan will also be adopted for the Acharya Vihar-Sainik School Square and the Sishu Bhavan-Vani Vihar Square stretches.

However, though sponsors for the AG Square-Governor House Square, XIMB-KIIT University Square and Acharya Vihar-Sainik School Square have been identified, no decision has been taken about the Sishu Bhavan-Vani Vihar Square as construction is yet to be completed.

Municipal commissioner Vishal Kumar Dev said: “The new airport terminal building, which will be connected by road from Ekamra Square from the Capital Hospital-end, will be beautified with fountains, plantations and lawns. The theme will be a reflection of the city’s character i.e. Old Town with heritage temples and the emerging Bhubaneswar.”

He said a reputed architect would be engaged as consultant. “The work will be done in consultation with historians, architects, writers and intellectuals so that the look represents the historic city which is emerging as a major educational and IT destination,” Dev said.

With the development of a “world class heritage street corridor”, different sections of the Airport-Nandankanan Road — AG Square to Raj Bhavan Square, Raj Bhawan Square to Jayadev Vihar, XIMB to KIIT University Square — will also be developed. “The tenders will be floated within a month or two,” Dev said.

A senior BMC official said the AG Square-Governor House stretch would have wall art depicting coastal Odisha themes. Visitors to the Jayadev Vihar stretch in front of Janata Maidan will be able to relax in seats built by the BDA and enjoy the greenery.

The stretch between Acharya Vihar and Sainik School will have cycle tracks, contemporary sculptures and statues along with seating arrangements.

Dev said installations would be set up to represent the many national and regional-level instituteson the stretch. For example, a modern metallic installation of bicycles and a statue of Isaac Newton will come up near the Institute of Physics.

A zodiac walkway will be built near the Pathani Samanta Planetarium as an ode to Odia mathematician and astronomer Pathani Samanta.

The Acharya Vihar-Sainik School stretch will have indigenous plants on the median.

This beautification drive will include adequate maintenance clauses. “We will involve sponsors with a clause to get their support for maintenance. This lesson we have learnt from previous mistakes,” said a BMC official.

Old installations in front of the state secretariat were removed today. BMC officials said they would be relocated, but they did not reveal where.