Pahari Mandir Viksas Samiti will hold a meeting soon to chalk out further course of action in the light of the directions given by the Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday.
The court has directed Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar to hold a meeting with the committee members and ensure that the flag does not get tattered again or unfurl it only on some special dates.
“As per the directions given by the Jharkhand High Court, a meeting of the officials of PMVS will be called up very soon to find solution to the directions given by the court,” said committee spokesperson Mukesh Agrawal. Though, he said that it was not possible for anyone to ensure that the flag will not get tattered again.
“In that case we will have no choice, but to abide by the directions given by the court,” he added.
Agrawal said that all precautions were taken to ensure that the flag is not damaged this time. Other technical loopholes in the flag post have also been removed to prevent the flag from getting damaged, he said.
The Tricolour brought from Dubai this time costing Rs 1.8 lakh was said to be durable. It has been supplied by the same company which supplies flag in Jeddah, world’s tallest flagpole, where a better fabric has been used.
It also weighs more than the previous ones. Earlier it weighed 60 kg while this time it is of 135 kg. The flag also has a replacement guarantee of three months; if it gets damaged within three months, they will get it replaced immediately.
Remarkably, on April 17, when a new flag was being hoisted through a motorised pulley system, the rope got dislocated from its pulley and the flag was stuck in between. Incidentally, it was stuck at almost two-thirds height of the flag post, giving an impression of flying at ‘half mast’.
Taking a serious note of the incident, Kailash Yadav filed a Public Interest litigation in the Jharkhand High Court seeking “restoration” of the Tricolour on Ranchi Hill. The petitioner, making Chief Secretary, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner and SSP parties to the case, said that both the state and district administrations had failed to maintain the dignity of the national flag.
Jharkhand High Court during the hearing on Wednesday said disrespect to the Tricolour would not be accepted under any circumstances and directed the Ranchi DC to consider unfurling the national flag at Pahadi Mandir only on special occasions, the directive seeking to put an end to the series of misadventures that dogged the district administration since a 293-feet high flagpole was erected atop Ranchi Hill.