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Published 19:01 IST, September 3rd 2019

Bengaluru artist who posed as astronaut speaks out after viral video

Nanjundaswamy posted a video of him walking over potholes dressed as an astronaut in Bengaluru, to highlight poor infrastructure in the city, on Sunday

Reported by: Yash Sanghvi
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Baadal Nanjundaswamy, the man who is known for his street arts and 3-D paintings, took over social media by storm on Sunday. Nanjundaswamy’s artwork is celebrated as it influences civic authorities to do their work. Nanjundaswamy posted a video of him walking over potholes dressed as an astronaut in Bengaluru. The street artist said that he was trying to highlight the problems that people of Bengaluru face on a regular basis. 

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Read| Not Chandrayaan-2: Indian 'Astronaut' navigates Bengaluru's potholes

'Bad roads everywhere'

Nanjundaswamy said: "There are bad roads everywhere in the city. As residents of Bengaluru, we face a lot of problems. These potholes even cause accidents. This is why I am trying to highlight these issues." Nanjundaswamy had shared a video on Twitter in which he appeared to be walking on the surface of the moon wearing what looked like a spacesuit. However, as the camera panned, it was revealed that the man was instead walking on a pothole-filled road in Bengaluru.

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The video instantly went viral on social media with a large number of users applauding the concept. He also said that some people who do not understand his concepts also try to threaten him against doing such things. "However, I do not pay heed to them," he added. 

Read| Meet Dadarao Bilhore: He Has Filled 576 Potholes In 3 years With His Bare Hands After A Killer Pothole Claimed His Son's Life

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'Experience has been good'

Read| Vicky Kaushal Takes Matters In His Own Hands; Fills Potholes In Mumbai

He also claimed that he has taken up several similar campaigns in the past which also yielded positive results as the problems were resolved. "Earlier, I had painted on a pothole in the road and posted it on social media. The civic authorities fixed it immediately. My experience so far has been good," Nanjundaswamy said.

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'One death every eight hours'

According to reports, India's Silicon Valley sees one death every eight hours due to road accidents. It further goes on to state that, from January to April,  2,791 people sustained injuries in 1,576 accident cases. This means that there is an accident every two hours in the city. The death toll due to road accidents in Bengaluru in 2018 was 1,349. 

Read| Meet Irrfan and Mushtaq: Mumbai's pothole warriors

(Inputs from ANI)

16:15 IST, September 3rd 2019