The Hindu : Artists to support campaign against pollution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Artists to support campaign against pollution

BANGALORE, JAN. 9. From January 15, over 50 buses of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the Karnataka State Road Transport (KSRTC) will carry messages and slogans on road safety and pollution control painted by artists from the Artists for Environment group.

The buses will ply on city roads as part of the "Courtesy Month" to be organised by the State Transport Department in association with various other organisations from January 14. The Transport Minister, B. Ramanath Rai, will inaugurate the programme at the Kanteerva stadium. A function at which people will take an oath to fight pollution control and work for road safety will be organised in front of the Vidhana Soudha on the same day. Programmes to increase public awareness about the deteriorating environmental conditions and the increasing pollution levels will be organised.

The Transport Commissioner, I.M. Vittala Murthy, told presspersons here on Friday that 12 sculptors would create interactive installation artworks to be set up at prominent road junctions in Shivajinagar, Jayanagar, and Rajajinagar. A series of art competitions would be organised for over 2,000 children in five areas in Bangalore, he said. Artists including S.G. Vasudev, Yusuf Arrakal, and B.K.S. Verma would start painting messages on buses at the Kanteerva Stadium on January 14 at 10 a.m. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), BMTC, KSRTC, Cartoonists' Association, Press Photographers' Association, oil companies, and NGOs would support the programme, he added.

Photo and cartoon exhibitions would also be arranged, and over 5,000 environmental guides, posters, charts, and stickers distributed.

Street plays would be organised and slide shows presented at cinemas, the film-maker and environmentalist, Suresh Heblikar, said.

As part of a campaign to reduce pollution, students from various schools and colleges would be involved in carrying out air quality tests at prominent junctions. Officials of the KSPCB, and resource and technical associates of Eco-Watch would guide students, and air quality data reports would be sent to radio stations for announcement. The process would be documented in an "air quality report" by students, Mr. Heblikar said.

Mr. Murthy said that as part of the "Courtesy Month", the Transport Department, in coordination with the Police Department, would form 25 squads to check traffic violations and emission standards. The offenders would be let off with a warning the first time. Fines between Rs. 100 and Rs. 300 would be imposed for subsequent offences, he added.

He said that the programme would culminate with the formation of a human chain by over 10,000 NSS volunteers and citizens along the 67-km. stretch of the Outer Ring Road.

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