Coal town’s showpiece artery is all set to become a stunner.

The 1km Luby Circular Road, in the heart of the town just beside district headquarters, is being given a Rs 1.8 crore beauty treatment by Dhanbad Municipal Corporation to mark 100 years of the chairmanship of T. Luby.

Luby had been the first boss of the civic body who completed his tenure from 1919 to 1921.

Beautification includes concrete recliners for people to sit and relax, lush grassy patches with attractive saplings beside the road and busts of greats such as educationist and freedom fighter Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of Brahmo Samaj and social reformer Raja Rammohan Roy, Maithili poet and Sanskrit writer Vidyapati and founder-director of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar.

Sounding pleased over the progress of the work now speedily underway, Dhanbad mayor Chandrashekhar Agarwal told this paper, “Beatification work is likely to be completed by February. As you see, major work in this regard has already been done. We are just fine-tuning now.”

He said they chose Luby Circular Road for beautification on the centenary year of the tenure of the municipal corporation’s first chairman.

“We want this road to be inviting, to relax people and make them feel good about their hometown,” he said.

“Our basic aims are to give our citizens, when they come here, greenery and shade, comfort and inspiration, hence the saplings, the seating arrangements and busts of the four great sons of India,” the mayor added.

Painted bronze, the busts are made of cement, plaster and fibre by sculptors of Hooghly in Bengal.

Asked why these four were chosen for the busts to be installed here, the mayor said, “These luminaries had played a huge part in making India what it is today, in their own ways, but they are not remembered that much in public sphere nowadays. We want to remind people, especially the youth, of their immense contribution.”

Residents are excited about the new-look artery.

Mannan Sinha, a resident of Dhanbad’s Hirapur, said the road beautification project was much needed.

“We all love our hometown, and Luby Circular Road, which has virtually every important landmark of this place nearby, has a special place in every Dhanbad resident’s heart. The aesthetic beauty of the area has really increased with this beautification project. From morning walkers to youngsters, I think people will just love this road even more when revamp work is complete,” he said.