Electrical boxes to serve as canvas for art in ward 70

Kolkata: In a unique beautification drive, ward number 70, which falls under the Bhowanipore constituency, will soon see all the electrical boxes installed by the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) as canvases for art with graffiti of eminent personalities.

Work in this regard has always kicked off at Elgin Road which houses the residence of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

"The Elgin Road is being decorated with graffiti of Netaji on the CESC electrical boxes. They have turned into an eyesore with leaflets of various advertisements stuck on them. It will have excerpts from popular messages of the great leader like 'You give me blood, I will give you freedom', 'Jai Hind' and many more," said Ashim Bose, councillor of ward 70.

The Bishop Lefroy Road, known for the residence of Oscar winning director Satyajit Ray and located adjacent to Elgin Road, will be the next to be decorated with graffiti of Ray on these electrical boxes.

"My plan is to take the whole neighborhood down memory lane and remind them of the eminent personalities whose contribution have been immense in the history of Bengal," Bose said.

Justice Chandra Madhab Road will be decked up in similar fashion with graffiti of Vivekananda and his messages. Gradually, the other roads will also follow suit, highlighting the lives and works of Nazrul Islam, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and others.

"Visual pollution has been an intrinsic part of these electrical boxes. Wherever we see posters and stuff, we rip it out, but we can't weed these out really. They come and paste these in the middle of the night. With this initiative, at least they will think twice about putting up a poster," Bose pointed out.

Sarat Chatterjee Street near Rabindra Sarovar, where Satyajit Ray had spent a part of his life, has seen the same type of beautification with graffiti of eminent personalities and film posters etched on electrical boxes.