Median Strip Gardens to enhance city’s beauty

Mysuru: Roads are sporting colours and so are the medians. The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is gearing up for Swachh Survekshan survey from Jan. 4, 2019 to Jan. 31, 2019.

As a first step in this regard, it has started to beautify the city by placing pots on concrete medians (median strip garden) where ornamental and eye-catching flowering plants are being planted.

The median strip or central reservation is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways, such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways and motorways. The term also applies to divided roadways other than highways, such as some major streets in urban or suburban areas.

The median strip pot garden near Hardinge Circle. [Pic. by Pragathi Gopalakrishna]

These median strip gardens enhance the beauty of a particular road. While the concrete median will have black and yellow colour stripes, the flower pots will sport green and white colour.

As a pilot project, such cement concrete medians with pots have been put up at two places — one on Sayyaji Rao Road near Bamboo Bazaar and another near Hardinge Circle in the heart of the city.

The Horticulture Department is planting saplings like Kanagale (Oleander, Rose-bay), Crown of Thorns, Christ plant (Euphorbia Milii), Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), Peacock flower, Poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) and Agave. However, these plants fortunately cannot be eaten by cattle that roam the city streets.

Cement concrete medians with pots being placed on Sayyaji Rao Road near Bamboo Bazaar.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, MCC Development Officer Nagaraj said that the MCC has come up with this idea of beautifying the city by making the cement concrete medians look more aesthetic by placing pots on them and planting flowering plants. Once the approval is given by the Corporation Council then the same will be replicated in other parts of the city, he said.