Reoccurring mutilation of the national flag installed at Pahari Mandir seems to have gone out of hand for the Pahari Mandir Vikas Samiti, the entity responsible to maintain the country’s tallest tricolour.
The flag got damaged once again a few days ago was somehow brought down on Sunday. However, the management invited a different kind of trouble, when the flag got stuck midway leaving it half-mast after it tried to replace the torn flag with a new one.
It was flying half mast till writing of the report. Notably, the national flag is half-masted if the Government declares to observe State mourning on the death of a dignitary.
Ironically, the office-bearers of Samiti, who had got Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Chief Minister Raghubar Das to hoist the tallest tricolor with much fanfare, are either looking the other way or shooting the messenger for the mess.
When asked why any solution to the problem could not be found out since the installation of the 493 meter high national flag unfurled on January 23 last, Sub Divisional Office Aditya Kumar Anand, who happens to be the ex-officio secretary of the Samiti, retorted, “We are looking at the perfect material for the flag. Can you (the media) help us in finding thatIJ”
Anand snubbed the general perception that the Samiti has been continuously showing disrespect to the national flag and the episode has caused embarrassment for the residents. “There is no controversy whatsoever. This is a technical issue. Earlier, the flag was getting torn due to high wind speed and this time the gear of the motor taking it up has stuck in the middle. These things are not in our hands and we cannot guarantee that these issues would not happen in future,” explained the SDO.
He also discarded the view blaming the management for being wrong side of the Flag Code of India that prohibits anyone from displaying the tricolor in mutilated State. The flag was ripped at least four times in the past, replaced after days of fluttering in the same condition and now trapped half-mast after the gear trouble.
“Flag code says against intentional disrespect to the tricolor which has not been done here. It is getting torn due to wind. We wait for the right time as it may get damaged further if brought down in a hurry. Moreover, fixing the gear problem tops our priority and we are in touch with the Pune-based company that had installed motor as well as of some local mechanics. The problem would be rectified by Tuesday,” said the SDO.
The Samiti was also of the view that there is no fault in design of the pole for the
flag getting ripped apart again and again.