Aimed at reclaiming public spaces Under-The-Flyover (UFO), Project UFO is an ongoing project in a series of citizen-led actions for clean public spaces in India. Initiated by THE UGLY INDIANS in 2015, this project has cleaned and transformed 30 decrepit Under-Fly-Over areas in the city of Bengaluru. While this project was conceived in Bangalore, the idea has spread to Delhi and Chennai where more flyovers have been revitalized in the same manner.
Dark and neglected spaces under flyovers tend to attract activities such as open urination, garbage dumping, illegal parking, sticking unwanted posters and other illegal activities. The purpose of this project was to clean public spaces in order to dissuade the public from misuse of these spaces. The first action was attempted in early 2015 in the space under the flyover at Richmond Circle, Bangalore. This met with mixed success, and was used as a learning for the next action. The designs used were refined and other strategies were adopted to deter people from defacing the pillars of the flyover – these learnings were first used on the pillars of the Jayadeva Flyover in October 2015
Once these new designs and methods succeeded in deterring posters, this approach was replicated work across another 25 flyovers and the results of this city-wide effort was exhibited at an event held under the Hebbal Flyover on 10th January 2016. The initial funding for these projects came from participating volunteers – however the impact and results soon spread on social media, and corporates came forward to contribute funds through their CSR budgets and offered ot send their employee teams as volunteers.
Till 17th April 2019, 3856 people have volunteered their time to clean up and beautify 950 pillars across 30 flyovers in the city of Bengaluru. The pillars of these flyovers have been painted with a special design pattern conceived and curated by Aniruddha Abhyankar, Chief Design Officer, India Rising Trust. These Poster-Deterring designs now dot the entire city of Bengaluru, and are perhaps the most prolific use of a single design concept across a large metropolitan city.
A comprehensive survey of 2200 pillars (Metro + Flyover) was conducted in Bengaluru taken on April 17, 2019 - a day before the General Elections. To prove that there are NO POLITICAL POSTERS on any pillar! What an incredible story - that political parties, government and citizens all agree that the city should not be defaced - even during a high-stakes election!
In the survey of the pillars that we conducted in April 2019, we are pleased to announce that out of 950 pillars, only 4 % are either found defaced or had posters – but not political posters!
Here are photos of 2000 pillars clicked a day before Elections (April 17) - absolutely free of political posters!
Album 1: Metro Pillars (1100):
https://www.facebook.com/123459791046618/photos/…
Album 2: Flyover PIllars (900):
https://www.facebook.com/pg/theugl.yindian/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2297751380284104#NPOPChallenge #NoPosterOnPillar
These pictures are being shared here for 4 reasons
Congratulations BENGALURU, for showing that a CITY CAN CHANGE in 1 year. There were NO POSTERS on PILLARS (and most walls) this Lok Sabha Election. Last May, the city was defaced very badly for the Assembly Election. Armed with a High Court judgment banning illegal posters, flexes and buntings, the city administration (BBMP) in partnership with citizen groups has policed and enforced this dramatic change.
A big THANK YOU to all political parties and their workers for restraining the urge and honouring this new collective consciousness for the city. A small, but important, step in the journey towards #SwachhaSundaraBengaluru.
All pictures on this page are intended for public use and may be reused
