Walls, pillars near SV Road Metro station get a facelift

The dull, moss-ridden walls around Swami Vivekananda Road Metro station and the Metro pillars disfigured by advertisement posters got a facelift courtesy 300 volunteers from a corporate company and The Ugly Indians.

“Public places are ignored and are at the mercy of miscreants. Instead of complaining, we decided to do our bit. Namma Metro has become an iconic part of the city. We wanted to contribute our bit to make it look better,” said Abhilash C A, one of the volunteers who took part in the activity.

He said the 300 volunteers were employees of the Grant Thornton, an accounting firm which funded work as part of corporate social responsibility. “I had earlier volunteered with The Ugly Indians for similar work near Bagmane Tech Park. I pitched the idea of work at the Metro station and they agreed,” he said.

Following permission from BMRCL, the volunteers took up preliminary work, including cleaning, last week. On Monday, volunteers painted the interior of the Metro station, the walls on the nearby footpaths and the Metro pillars.

“In the next phase, we will paint all the Metro pillars from Indiranagar KFC to SV Road station,” he added. BMRCL spokesperson U A Vasant Rao said it was encouraging to see chartered accountants and tax professionals volunteering to develop public places. “We hope this will inspire others to pitch in,” he said.