The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is all geared up to give a facelift to the stretch from the city centre to the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on Tumakuru Road ahead of the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) starting from January 7.

The Palike is going all out to make the event successful since the programme is meant to woo non-resident Indians to invest in India, especially in Karnataka.

Horticulture department officials of the BBMP have started planting exotic and decorative plants at the medians and junctions all along the road from the international airport to the BIEC. The makeover is happening mainly in the central business district, which is the centre for attraction and is the face of brand Bengaluru.

BBMP engineer-in-chief M R Venkatesh told DH the beautification drive is being carried out in select places of the city in view of PBD. “Plantation is going on at junctions and along the medians. Roads are being cleaned and wayside debris is being removed. Special instructions have been given to remove all posters and flexes. There will be hoardings only of the programme all along the road,” said Venkatesh.

He said mechanical sweeping will be employed all along the stretch during this period besides deploying a number of pourakarmikas.

He said no extra money is being spent to prepare for PBD. “We are doing it within the existing budget,” said the engineer-in-chief.