The beautification of the outer wall of the Sims Park in Coonoor with murals of flora seen only in mountains began here on Tuesday.
Local artists, who are volunteers from the NGO ‘Clean Coonoor’ that has been working on cleaning up the town for the last few years, have been commissioned by the Department of Horticulture and the district administration to paint the murals. Nilgiris Collector J. Innocent Divya and Monitoring Officer Supriya Sahu inaugurated the start of the beautification process.
P.J. Vasanthan, trustee of ‘Clean Coonoor’, said that the murals would feature a few species of flowering plants endemic to the Nilgiris as well as other species of hill flora.
Samantha Iyanna, managing trustee of the NGO, said that the first flower to be painted would be that of the Gloriosa superba plant, which is also the State flower. Ms. Iyanna said that she hoped the murals would help showcase the unique flora found in mountain ecosystems. Also present at the Sims Park during the inauguration was Joint Director of Horticulture Sivasubramaniam Samraj.