State emblem at Master Canteen Square

A replica of a Konark sculpture showcasing a warrior and a horse adopted by the state government as its emblem - greets visitors who disembark at Bhubaneswar station and enter the city. The installation on the roundabout at Master Canteen Square, however, is now surrounded by weeds and overgrowths with the authorities turning a blind eye

Tribal statues in front of Kalinga Stadium

The government tried to showcase tribal lifestyle and tradition through wall paintings and statue installations across the city. Installations of tribal people in their traditional attire in front of Kalinga Stadium, which is now a sporting hotspot, remain broken and are in a dilapidated state because of lack of maintenance

Mermaid near Sainik School Square

The giant white-and-green mermaid installed here represents the relationship among humans, animals and the environment. The surroundings have a meadow-like structure to increase visibility and attract passers-by. But civic neglect has allowed the colours to fade, while wild plants have started to cover the sculpture. This installation was restored after local residents had vandalised it in 2013. Since then, it has been wallowing in neglect

Vessels at Acharya Vihar Square

A few metres from the mermaid, several vessels were installed to educate people about the importance of nature. One of the vessels symbolically pours water that, according to artists, represent the importance of watering plants to maintain the environment. Once again, lack of care has left the installations almost in ruins - some of the vessels have been displaced from their original site and are haphazardly scattered around the place

Artistspeak

It is irresponsible of the city authorities to neglect these instillations in such a manner. Many of these installations were done with the help of private partners and if the civic authorities are not doing anything, the private partner should take care of these. If they don’t respect art, they should not make efforts to install such sculptures

Mayank Rath, sculptor

Authorityspeak

We are in constant touch with the agencies we have partnered with to execute these projects. We are helping them maintain the installations. A few installations have fallen prey to vandalism by local residents, but we are not going to tolerate such nuisance. I will personally look into the matter and put our officials on the job of restoring the installations

Ananta Narayan Jena, mayor

Text by Sandeep Mishra, pictures by Ashwinee Pati