Surat is all set to become the first urban body to depict art on trees. An experiment is being conducted by the garden department of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) for the beautification of its parks and gardens.

The trunks of trees in parks are being painted by the civic body with a variety of paintings using water based colours. Currently, trees in Gandhi Baug are donning the various art forms and these can be viewed by the public Jayanti on August 24. Many other parks and garden trees will also be painted under this project.

Indian traditional paintings like Varli and art forms depicting the tribal culture and their lifestyles are used to beautify these trees. SMC garden superintendent S J Gautam said that painting tree trunks in parks and gardens make it more attractive to people. The civic body has hired artists to create the designs and paintings.  The designs vary depending up on the size of the tree trunks.

A meeting for the beautification of the city was conducted wherein this novel idea was conceived and there were discussions on the forms of art that can be used to spruce up the trees.

An official from SMC said that the visual impact and charm of a park or a garden will be enhanced by such paintings in different colours. The SMC also plans to extend this project to beautify bigger tree trunks located in SMC area.