India’s biggest national flag, hoisted in Hyderabad a fortnight ago has been damaged by winds for the second time.
The 108X72 feet flag had to be once again furled after it was torn by strong winds. An attempt to hoist a new flag to replace the old one also failed as it was also damaged by the winds. Consequently the flagpole at the Sanjeevaiah Park was without the Tricolour.
Since Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hoisted it to mark the second anniversary of the formation of Telangana State, this is second time that the flag was damaged, raising questions about its quality and its ability to withstand the vagaries of the Hyderabad weather.
In view of frequent damage to the massive flag, believed to be the second-tallest in the country after the one in Raipur, the Telangana Government has decided to take away the responsibility of its maintenance from the Road and Buildings department and hand it over to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority. Officials were in the process of taking over the charge.
Officials say that the maintenance of the national flag was likely to cost Rs50 lakhs per annum. The State Government had spent Rs1.8 crore on the flag project. S Ashok, Executive Engineer of R&B Department said the flag was made with knitted polyster which was also used in other monumental flags of the same size in Delhi and other cities in the country.