Hyderabad: A day after the national flag at Sanjeevaiah Park was damaged due to the wind, the flagpole stood empty, leaving several visitors disappointed. Authorities have temporarily abandoned the plan to re-install the flag after a replacement flag was also damaged while being installed.
Many people, who visited Sanjeevaiah Park beside Hussainsagar on Thursday, were unaware that the flag had been taken down. "We came all the way from Borabanda to see the flag, but it has been taken down. This is really disappointing," said Nitin Sharma, a student who came to the park along with his friends.
Others blamed the authorities for the damage. "It's clear that no assessment was done prior to setting up the flag," said another visitor.
While the security guards at the park were not ready to let out any information to the media, P Srikant, a supervisor at the park, said that a key meeting is scheduled to happen at the Secretariat on Friday to decide the further course of action. A decision will be made on whether the flag will be maintained by the roads and buildings (R&B) department or the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had hoisted the flag on June 2 as part of Telangana Formation Day celebrations. It was unfurled on India's second highest flagpole, measuring 291 feet.
Experts have blamed the flag's size for the damage, saying its length is not in proportion with the height of the mast. Others said the quality of the material used for the flag - which a Kolkata firm manufactured for Rs 1.3 crore - was poor.
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We came all the way from Borabanda to see the flag, but it has been taken down. This is really disappointing
- Nitin Sharma, student