Man in spacesuit 'moonwalks' on crater-like potholes in Bengaluru; video goes viral on social media, Twitterati slams BBMP

India may have spent over Rs 800 crore on Chandrayaan-2 which is set to create history by landing on the moon on 7 September, but before ISRO’s Pragyan Rover makes the touchdown, back home, a man ‘walked on the surface of the moon’ without travelling beyond Bengaluru.

In a video, now viral on social media, actor Poornachandra Mysore is seen dressed up in a spacesuit, walking through the crater-like potholes in Herohalli area of Bengaluru. Artist Baadal Nanjundaswamy, who has been credited for coming up with the concept of recreating the lunar surface in Karnataka’s capital, shared a video of the ‘moonwalk’ on Twitter and Facebook on Monday to raise awareness about the situation of the roads in the metropolitan.

Hello bbmp👋 @BBMPCOMM @BBMP_MAYOR @bbm #thelatest #streetart #nammabengaluru #herohalli pic.twitter.com/hsizngTpRH

— baadal nanjundaswamy (@baadalvirus) September 2, 2019

The 45-second-long video starts by giving the viewer an illusion of a man walking on the moon. Few seconds later, the camera pans to the adjoining road to show the vehicles passing by. Within hours of the video going up on online, it garnered over 1,70,000 views on Twitter. While several users lauded the duo for the creativity, many lashed out at the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), which is responsible for maintaining roads in the city.

Someone finally did it! @BBMP_MAYOR @BBMPCOMM @bbmpcommr @BJP4Karnataka @CMofKarnataka would you really want this to be what Bengaluru will be known for? Maybe a good idea to improve tourism?! An out of the world experience (like on the 🌔), when traversing through this city🤦🏻‍♂️

— Adithya Kothandhapani (@AdithyaKPani) September 2, 2019

Is this the real picture of silicon valley of India Bengaluru?wht the civic body doing there?r they gonna blind to c the condition of roads? This is really disgusting.

— SITANSU (@sitanlara) September 2, 2019

Is this the real picture of silicon valley of India Bengaluru?wht the civic body doing there?r they gonna blind to c the condition of roads? This is really disgusting.

— SITANSU (@sitanlara) September 2, 2019

The video also came at a time when a new law, Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, relating to high penalties for traffic rule violators came into effect across the country from 1 September. A section of social media users criticised the government for imposing heftier fines when citizens had to resort to such acts of protest just to seek proper infrastructure.

@baadalvirus
👏 Perfect protest and timing. 1. Showing that isro should be shameful to burn the taxpayer's (err... slave's) money whose basic needs are not been taken care of. 2. Showing that rta should be shameful on increasing penalties without improving the infrastructure.

— Mahesh Kumar (@MaverickMKumar) September 2, 2019

Yet the fine for pillion for not wearing a helmet is unmerciful.
But who cares when we can get moon Feels right? @btppubliceye

— Zameer Fouzan (@zmrfzn) September 2, 2019

Speaking to The Indian Express , Nanjundaswamy said that the entire footage was shot on a mobile phone on Saturday. “We shot it multiple times at around 10 pm in the night on Saturday, hoping the road will be empty but still there was some traffic. But it was good as an indicator’s light from a vehicle helped to create the dramatic effect,” he was quoted as saying.

Nanjundaswamy has earlier, too, raised the issue of potholes in the city. In 2015, he had planted a life-sized crocodile in a huge pothole in Bengaluru, while in 2017 he converted a pothole into a pool and made another artist dress-up as a mermaid.