NDMC to deck up ‘dull’ walls with street art to rank in Swachh Survekshan survey

NEW DELHI:  To spruce up ‘dull’ corners and walls at selective junctions and locations in Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (LBZ), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will be using street art to earn high ranking in Swachh Survekshan..

The council is yet to prepare a list of locations, where it will introduce wall paintings to transform them into cynosure. Portions of walls at five points around iconic Khan Market have already been adorned with the wall paintings.

“The idea is to keep the city clean and give a makeover to the defaced walls. We have already started it and beautified five points around Khan Market. The work started around 4-6 weeks ago. In addition to creative art and innovative designs, we have been mandated to write ‘Swachh Sarvekshan 2021 and messages for the general public,” HP Singh, Superintending Engineer (Roads) of NDMC.

The street art work has been outsourced to a private contractor however the designs or layout is finalised by the council.

“Different art work is being selected for different locations. The message, which is to be scribed on the wall and creative, is decided by the council. We are in process of selecting more locations,” Singh added. The council launched a similar initiative in 2016 when it created art work in subways and other public spaces to encourage more pedestrians to start using the pedestrian subways.

In Swachh Sarvekshan Survey announced 2020 last week, the council bagged the first rank in the ‘cleanest capital’ city category. The LBZ houses important buildings such as the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Parliament House, the Supreme Court, the North and South Blocks, and bungalows of MPs and other bureaucrats. Another official of the council said that the agency is emphasising on night sweepings in commercial places and markets once again.

“All blank potions of walls will be beautified. NDMC will continue to make efforts to make vision of a smart city a reality and art is an essential component of public life in the city. Hence, night sweeping is carried out between 6 and 9 pm daily in markets and other areas where footfall is very high. We have also intensified antilarval drive and issued challans where mosquitoes breeding are found,” said the official.