The lord Shiva and Radha wall murals at Darshanlal Chowk created by Canadian artist Pan Trinity Das were restored on Sunday by volunteers from local NGO Waste Warriors who were joined by 15 students from SGRR (PG) College and several members of the general public. One volunteer Vijay Pratap Singh came all the way from Chandigarh to join in the clean up drive.
The volunteers washed off posters that had been illegally pasted by politicians and businesses despite fly posting being prohibited by the UttaranchalPrevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 2003. The wall mural next to Radha that was created to raise awareness about using a dustbin was so badly damaged that it will have to be re-painted from scratch. Fly posting is a major issue across the city and there are very few walls that have not been defaced as a result of it. The wall murals received considerable appreciation from across the country after photos of them went viral on the internet.
After cleaning the wall murals the volunteers headed to the Clock Tower to remove posters from the building between the Post Office and the Sulabh Toilets. The area was also cleaned and the garbage removed. Waste Warriors CEO Jodie Underhill said, “I’d like to thank all of the volunteers for working with such enthusiasm. It’s amazing what difference a few hours of hard work makes. If people from across the city came out for a few hours each week to do social work as suggested by the Prime Minister we could clean up the city in no time at all,” she said.