Delhi flyovers turn into art canvases carrying social messages

From flyovers to metro pillars, many urban infrastructures in Delhi have been adorned with colourful murals and paintings turning these into vibrant canvases carrying social messages.

A sidewall of a flyover in the Kashmere Gate area depicts a girl sprawled on a mat reading a book, while the one in Nehru Place in south Delhi carries a mural portraying Qutub Minar next to a fuming factory.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has beautified the walls of the busy Nehru Place flyover with colourful murals themed on heritage and environmental concerns.

Some of the iconic monuments depicted on either side of the ramps of this flyover include the India Gate, Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Jantar Mantar.

''The idea is to reflect the rich cultural heritage of our country and also deliver a social message to people to celebrate our legacy while keeping the city clean,'' a senior civic official said on Sunday.

Public walls are often used by many people for urination and the Swachh Bharat Mission also seeks to curb that practice and encourage citizens to use public toilets.

To protect the paintings from the impact of pollution, the walls have been coated with anti-carbonation paint, officials said.

The murals at Nehru Place flyover also depict issues of pollution and environmental degradation.

Clear blue skies, verdant surroundings have been depicted next to an image of Qutub Minar, a World Heritage Site in south Delhi, along with two refuelling machines and a two-wheeler parked next to it, to convey the message on the need to curb pollution. Another segment of the artwork shows an electric vehicle standing outside a fuming factory, sending out a message on the need to switch to cleaner fuels.

Many commuters and passers-by could be seen turning heads to admire it while in transit or halting to take a few photographs.

In north Delhi's Kashmere Gate, the area's civic body has come with a huge mural depicting a stack of books and a girl reading under an electric lamp on the ramp walk of the ISBT flyover.

But, it is not art for art's sake and the social message of girl education is aesthetically embedded into it. The artwork has been installed under a project by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in partnership with Delhi Street Art.

The 200-metre long and 20-ft high mural also has a slogan in Hindi streamed across the wall -- ''Wah jo Andhere ko Roushan Karti Hai, Wah jo Jeevan ka Srot hai: Wah ek Beti hai'' (The one who dispels the darkness, the one who is a source of life; she is a daughter).

''A loud and clear message of girl child education has been sent to the residents of Delhi through this artwork,'' said Shashanka Ala, Deputy Commissioner, City-Sadar Paharganj Zone of the NDMC.

Delhi Street Art, a collective of artists has earlier executed similar projects in the national capital.

In 2017, it had worked with a group of deaf persons in the city to transform a portion of a dull exterior wall of a prominent flyover in south Delhi into a vibrant canvas, embedded with a loud and clear social message -- deafness is normal and sign language is not a taboo.

Ala said the message in the mural is to encourage the education of a girl child. It shows the transition from darkness to light for the generation, by investing in books and education for children, especially the girl child, the deputy commissioner said. ''The mural also depicts the need to revive our classics and impart valuable cultural and historic lessons to our children and help them fly,'' she said.

Among the stack of books depicted on the wall are 'Rancharitmanas', 'Mahabharat', 'Great Expectations', 'Meghdoot', 'Godan', besides books on multiple subjects.

In August, the NDMC had also come up with a series of murals on the pillars of Pitampura metro station in northwest Delhi depicting Indian sportspersons who won medals at the Tokyo Olympics.

Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, ace shuttler P V Sindhu and other Indian sportspersons who brought laurels for India at the Tokyo Games have been honoured with murals. A senior official said the NDMC had earlier used art to salute the contributions of the doctors, nurses, police personnel and other 'Corona warriors' who have acted as a virtual shield to protect people during this COVID-19 pandemic.

''Also, on the boundary walls of a crematorium in Panchkuian area, artworks have been done earlier depicting freedom fighters,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)