Sketching the BEST solution As part of a campaign focused on cleaner public transport, five Mumbai- based artists visualise a better city with renewablepowered electric buses dalreen ramos dalreen. ramos@ mid- day. com ON February 1, the Union Budget allocated R 22,000 crore to the power and renewable energy sector. But understanding and tracking how this amount will materialise into real action is a different ball game. Thatu2019s where the power of citizen- backed initiatives lies u2014 they not only make information accessible to the public but also spur citizen stakeholders. In October 2019, social impact agency Purpose joined hands with city- based not- for- profit Waatavaran, a climate, environment and sustainability foundation to tackle the issue of cleaner transport in the city.

Along with other citizen groups, they initiated the # SolarWalaBEST campaign to increase the acceptance of renewable- powered electric buses. And since the aim was to support the initiatives of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport ( BEST) through public engagement and creative solutions, Purpose commissioned five Mumbaikar artists to envision how a city powered by clean energy would look in 2020 via digital artworks that were published last month. u201c We gave them a brief about what the campaign is, but didnu2019t set any limitations. Thus each artist introduced a personal element into their work.