Bhubaneswar, April 23: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is likely to undertake more beautification projects along the Jayadev Vihar- Nandankanan Road.

Officials said the new projects would include plantation and installation of fountains at major squares along this stretch. “We are still working on the details of the project. It may take around four to five months for the work to begin,” said an official. He added that from now on, the civic body would also lay special emphasis on the maintenance of such projects.

The official said almost all such projects were funded by private companies. From now on, the BMC has decided to add a maintenance clause to the agreements with these companies while taking up the projects.

The corporation is also trying to ensure proper care of the plants and trees and beautification objects on the road stretch from Ekamra Square to AG Square. Sources said the civic body found this to be imperative because some of the beautification projects executed in the past have been lying in neglect.

These include the project on the Kalinga Kanan stretch near Kalinga Stadium. The civic body had to lodge a complaint with the police after some electrical installations were stolen on this stretch. Some art objects installed here are still lying broken.

While one of the four statues of tribal women in the centre of the beautification project here is broken, another art object is also lying damaged.

Environment officer of the corporation Bikram Keshari Routray said: “The company, which has the responsibility to maintain the beautification work, has been told about the damage. They have been asked to replace or remove the damaged objects.”

“The original project, Kalinga Kanan, was built by Aliza and Fahmida International. But since there was no maintenance contract, the project was lying in neglect and we requested a private company, MG Mohanty Mines, to fund the maintenance work,” said a senior BMC official.

However, the staff deployed for the maintenance work faced many difficulties because local youths from nearby slums and other areas sneaked in by climbing the wall of the adjoining Kalinga Stadium. The corporation officials had also written to the sports department to contain the menace.

A senior BMC official said since the old beautification works needed repairs, the civic body had started renovating the landscape between Ekamra Square and AG Square.

BMC sources said most of the old projects were lying in neglect because, in the past, the authorities had failed to visualise the importance of maintenance.

Not only Kalinga Kanan, the median beautification near AG Square and Rajmahal Square was destroyed when the road was expanded about two years ago. Another beautification project, which cost Rs 21 lakh at Rajmahal Square, was also rendered useless because of road expansion work because the art objects installed there had to be removed.

Architects involved in these beautification projects complain that they have never been consulted by the government with about maintenance.