Bhubaneswar: In a major push to enhance Bhubaneswar’s urban landscape, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a citywide drive to beautify road medians and underpasses by partnering with corporate houses, many of which are funding the initiative through their environmental development funds.
The civic body has begun replacing ageing flowering trees with new plantations, landscaping medians and improving green cover along major roads across several wards. Officials from the BMC’s Environment Sub-Department are carrying out regular inspections to monitor the quality and pace of the work.
To reduce the financial burden on the civic body, BMC has entrusted the maintenance of several road medians to corporate organisations under their environmental development initiatives. Senior officials, including BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana, Mayor Sulochana Das, the Additional Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner, are also conducting field visits to oversee the progress.
As part of the initiative, the SMS Group, with support from voluntary organisation Bhasha, has taken up the maintenance and beautification of key underpasses, including those at Fire Station, CRPF, Vani Vihar, Rasulgarh, Khandagiri, Acharya Vihar, AG Square and Kalpana Square.
The MGM Group has been assigned the medians from Shishu Bhawan Square to Capital Hospital and from New Airport Square to Naveen Niwas–Pallaspalli Road. SNM Group is maintaining stretches from AG Square to Raj Bhavan, Shishu Bhawan Square to New Airport Square, and Rajmahal Flyover Square to Kalpana Square.
State-run NALCO has undertaken the beautification of the median between Jaydev Vihar Square and Kalinga Hospital Square, besides landscaping both sides of the Jaydev Vihar Junction, using its environmental development funds.
According to BMC officials, the beautification works being undertaken by SMS Group, MGM Group, SNM Group and NALCO are entirely financed through their respective environmental development funds, ensuring that the projects do not impose any additional financial burden on the civic body.
Separately, BVG India Private Limited has been awarded a three-year contract to maintain and beautify over 45.11 km of 39 road medians across the city after emerging as the lowest bidder (L1) in the tender process. The contract, effective from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2027, is being funded by the BMC.
The Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) has also begun median development work along the AG Square–Acharya Vihar stretch, with the expenditure being met from BMC funds.
Mayor Sulochana Das and BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana have directed all agencies engaged in the project to ensure scientific execution and high-quality maintenance, asserting that there will be no compromise in the city’s ongoing beautification efforts.
