Once an attraction, now an eyesore

Amit Bathla

Panchkula, February 5

One must have noticed the paintings on back walls of houses along the roads separating sectors in the city, depicting the culture, heritage, freedom fighters of India, educative messages and flags of countries. In less than a year, these paintings, which were drawn under a beautification project, have started fading and peeling off. The recent rain inflicted more damage on them. Locals have questioned the quality of material used in these paintings. They said these paintings were nothing but an eyesore and wastage of money.

An amount of Rs36.50 lakh was spent on the project.

SK Nayar, president of the Citizens’ Welfare Association, said, “In the first place, painting the back walls was uncalled for. They are nothing but a dent to the city’s uniformity and distinct identity. Now, the paintings, on which hefty public money was spent, have started turning dull. The MC wasted taxpayers’ money in the name beautification of the city. Rather, they should have used this money to address civic issues.”

After objection of many owners, the MC had left the back walls of their houses unpainted. “Most walls are painted, but some have also been left out. It looks odd as there is no consistency,” said another resident.

For instance, it was found that a few house owners in Sector 12 have pasted paper sheets carrying printed messages on the back walls, specifically asking to not paint or deface their property with posters.

MC officials said the paintings in bad shape would be renovated.

Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said the project contractor was bound to repair and renovate if these paintings get damaged before a year.

“Hence, the damaged paintings will be repaired under the conditions of the contract. We have already issued instructions to the contractor for fixing these paintings. We have 10 per cent of the project amount with us as performance security. The contractor can’t escape the responsibility of the repair job,” he added.

In April last year, Haryana Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta had launched the project work from the road separating Sector 8 and 17. He had called it “another step towards making Panchkula more clean, green and beautiful.”