A few portions of the walls along the service lanes of Chennai Outer Ring Road are getting beautified, thanks to volunteer efforts. The long walls are getting painted with messages on environment and road safety among others.
“Some organisations have approached us for permission to paint the walls, and one group has already completed its work. We will welcome more such efforts as they are meant to carry messages to the public,” said an official source in the Tamil Nadu Road Development Company, the managing associate for the 60-km-long project from Vandalur to Minjur.
‘No distraction’
Mark Selvaraj, urban planner, said that since the paintings are along service lanes, they will not be a diversion to those using the main carriageway.
“Such paintings on walls or stone sculptures help develop a character, an identity for the road. It helps break the monotony,” he said. For instance, toll plazas on East Coast Road to Puducherry have paintings of birds, scenes from nature and the sea. It is something that many motorists will remember for a long time.
On Sunday, around 20 volunteers from the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) painted a portion of walls near the Mudichur junction with accent on conserving freshwater bodies. “We are creating awareness of freshwater sources. Volunteers just have to bring their interest for nature. We have artists who are volunteers who can do the outline of the paintings,” said K. Pavithran of the EFI.
Volunteer S.R. Sudhakar, a first-year engineering student, said he tried to join most of EFI’s efforts on weekends.
“I have been interested in the environment right from my childhood and when EFI came to my school last year, I joined them. I believe that we have lost many waterbodies and that efforts must be taken to save whatever remains,” he said.
