Chennai: Chennai Corporation’s efforts to beautify the white washed walls of Amma Maaligai with caricatures have failed to eke out the desired results with unfinished sketches now an eyesore for visitors. Created by students of Government Fine Arts College at Egmore, neat pencil sketches of supersonic aircraft with afterburners on, a humanoid robot and even the Ripon Buildings adorn the walls of Amma Maaligai.
“It was an attempt to elevate the look and feel of the surroundings. The work was going on in full swing until before the December floods,” said an official. “The students did not return and there was not much follow up from our side partly because we were involved in flood relief,” the official added.
Inaugurated in September 2015, Amma Maaligai, which is the Ripon Buildings’ annexe, does not give off a clean image. Pan stains are prominent on the pearl white walls and the five-storey building has no information whatsoever about the different departments that it houses in the ground floor. “It is hard for new visitors to the building to figure out where each department is located,” admitted an official.
Surprisingly, the new building too has developed cracks just like the 103-year old heritage Ripon Buildings. A noticeably large crack has formed near the staircase in the second floor of the building. “The Metro Rail work has much to blame for all the cracks,” said a senior official.
