CHANDIGARH: The national flag was finally hoisted on the highest flag pole in the country at Attari-Wagah border after five days on Thursday. The flag on the 360 feet high pole had got torn four times in the last 25 days due to high winds and extreme weather conditions.
Talking to the New Indian Express, former chairman of Amritsar Improvement Trust, Suresh Mahajan, said that he had written a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a high-level probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the issue. He said that officials who sanctioned the project should have first done a technical feasibility study before hoisting the flag which costs Rs 1.25 lakh and weighs around 100 kg. He alleged that the project was being cleared and executed in a hurry.
The letter stated that the initial tender called by AIM wanted a flag pole 85 meters high and the price quoted was Rs 99.97 lakh. But that tender was rejected and again another tender was invited which wanted the pole to be 105 metres high and the price mentioned was Rs 3.43 crore, which was passed by the trust. Thus the height of the flag pole was 20 feet higher than the original plan and twelve flags were given at that cost.
On March 5, the highest flag in the country was hoisted by the then Punjab local bodies minister Anil Joshi on the flag post the foundation for which was laid last year.