BENGALURU: Areas under flyovers (UFO) have been neglected spaces that have degenerated into garbage dumps, open urinals and hubs of illegal activities. Bengaluru has over 40 flyovers and a majority of them are an eyesore. BBMP partnered with anonymous citizen volunteer group The Ugly Indians to launch Project UFO in October 2015 with the aim of cleaning and beautifying flyover pillars and preventing defacement through illegal posters. Seeing the success of Project UFO, BBMP launched the Adopt-a-Flyover initiative in February this year as part of the Clean Bengaluru Campaign and invited corporates to come forward and adopt flyovers, and develop and maintain them.
The first flyover adopted under this scheme was Veeranapalya Flyover on Outer Ring Road, opposite Manyata Tech Park. It was adopted by L&T Technology Services, as part of their CSR initiative.
The area under the flyover is over 35,000 sq ft and has been a mess for years. The entire area was converted into a clean and green space. Over 100 L&T employees were a part of the hands-on beautification process and took part in cleaning, painting, greening and other development and beautification activities at different intervals over a month.
“Local businesses and residents also chipped in, making it a community activity,” a Ugly Indian volunteer said. While L&T employees volunteered their time and labour, Ugly Indian designed and planned the project.
Kavitha K, personal assistant to L&T CEO, said, “We volunteered for three Saturdays for four to six hours every day. We never knew we were capable of such labour. At the end of it, there was a sense of ownership among us as colleagues started pointing out the stones they had laid, painted or the plants they had planted. It was a fun activity.”