Bengaluru: What do you do if you find a full-grown ‘crocodile’ in the middle of a busy city road? Most would scream out in terror, naturally. And that’s what happened on Thursday on Sulthanpalya Main Road in north Bengaluru that took the motorists and locals by surprise.
People, spotted a life-size crocodile in one of the water-filled potholes, were about to scream for help on spotting the reptile, but soon realised it was a novel way of protest by a 36-year-old visual artist.
Frustrated by the failure of the BBMP to repair a giant pothole and a broken water pipe in the middle of the main road, Baadal Nanjundaswamy, a former visualiser with a leading advertising agency, planted the 20 kg life-sized crocodile in the 12-feet-long pothole and painted the ‘pond’ in green.
“A drinking water pipe broke about a month ago. The subsequent rain and constant traffic has eroded the road creating a big pot hole. Authorities have showed no response to rectifying it. Locals have complained to the BBMP and the BWSSB to no avail. I am hoping they will take some action now,” Nanjundaswamy said.
The artist created his fiber crocodile over a week’s time at a personal cost of Rs 6000.
This is not the first time that Nanjundaswamy has used his creativity for civic activism. Last year, he had turned an open manhole into the mouth of ‘Yamaraj’ – to suggest that it was a death trap – and authorities fixed it within a day.
