CHENNAI: Elliot’s beach at Besant Nagar turned into a bustling spot on Friday with hundreds of people clicking selfies with the city's iconic structures like Ripon Building, Madras University and Valluvar Kottam.
Wondering how did all these buildings come to Elliot's? Here's your answer.
Greenpeace, an International NGO rallying to protect the environment, recreated the city’s economic structures and living beings facing pollution due to industries, through sand art to spread awareness on clean air and air pollution.
This was an effort by the NGO to send a message to the Centre to include Chennai in its National Clean Air Programme, which was launched in January 2019.
‘‘Chennai’s air quality is higher than WHO standards and is getting worse. It also remains the only metropolitan city to not be included in the NCAP,’’ Avinash Chanchan, Senior Campaigner of Greenpeace, told Express.
He added that these kinds of initiatives through art may carry forward the message on the importance of air-pollution not just to people, but government officials.
To create the sand art, the NGO roped in Subal Maharana, a popular Odisha based sand artist, who started the work on February 24.
Speaking to Express, 55-year-old Maharana said, he decided to create the Ripon and Madras University so that the local people would be able to relate.
‘‘People would relate with these buildings and be drawn to the spot of sand art. From there, they just need to look at it to know what it conveys,’’ said Maharana.
In the art stand a dozen children, holding placards like ‘Solution Not Pollution’, ‘Chennai needs pure air’ and ‘Clean Air Now’.
From an industry placed on the left side of the sand art travels a black smoke reaching to the right side, where there is some greenery.
This, Maharana said, was a message to people that bad air-quality should be prevented from spreading. ‘‘Air pollution is taking over many countries in the world and people have to come together to fight
against it,’’ he says.
Blazing sun was no bother to Maharana, who started sculpting at 6 am in the morning till 10 pm in the night.
The artists wrapped up their work on February 28 and completed sand art structures will be open for public viewing on February 29.
‘‘We had 6 days permission from the Corporation to have the space in Elliot’s. Five days went off in creating the art. So we wish the Corporation will allow us to display it till Sunday,’’ Maharana said.