A race to set up the tallest flagpole seems to be the latest rivalry that India and its neighbour Pakistan have indulged into.
On Thursday, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann, inaugurated the tallest Indian flag —flying at a height of 418 feet — on the Indo-Pak border at Attari, Amritsar.
Gadkari was in Amritsar on Thursday to inspect the work of national highways.
The Union Minister said that a surveillance system has been fitted atop the flag which will help BSF troops keep track of the activities near the border.
The new flag at Attari, flying at 418 feet, will beat Pakistan’s national flag which is hoisted at 400 feet on the other side of the Zero Line. The earlier Indian flag at Attari flew at a height of 360 feet. The National Highway Authority of India has installed the country’s new flag at Attari.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has mooted plans to soon hoist its national flag at 500 feet in Lahore, which is around 40 km from the Zero Line.
Both countries have often accused each other for using their flags for espionage through diplomatic channels.
Earlier in the day, Nitin Gadkari inspected the progress of work on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Greenfield Expressway and at the Amritsar Bypass during his visit to Punjab.
‘Five greenfield and economic corridors are being built in Punjab at a cost of Rs 29,000 crore. This 669 km Greenfield Expressway Delhi-Amritsar-Katra is being built at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore. Once ready, the expressway will help commuters reach Amritsar from Delhi in four hours and Katra in 6 hours. The present distance from Delhi to Katra is 727 km. After the construction of the expressway, the same distance will come down by at least 58 km,’ said Gadkari.
‘Starting from KMP in Delhi, this expressway is being built for 137 km in Haryana. The length of this expressway in Punjab is 399 km, of which work has started on 296 km. The length of the expressway in Jammu and Kashmir is 135 km, of which work is going on in 120 km. In Punjab, this expressway will pass through industrial areas like Patiala, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Gurudaspur. A major feature of this corridor includes Asia’s longest 1,300 meter-long cable-stayed bridge over the Beas River. This expressway will connect major religious places of the Sikh community, the Golden Temple, Sultanpur Lodhi Gurdwara in Kapurthala, Goindwal Sahib Gurdwara, Khandur Sahib Gurdwara, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib (Tarn Taran) and Mata Darbar Vaishno Devi in Katra,’ he said.
The minister added, ‘The work on 50 km, 4-lane Amritsar bypass being built at a cost of Rs 1475 crore is also on in full swing. With its construction, there will be better connectivity from Tarn Taran to Amritsar Airport. This bypass will prove effective in solving the traffic problems of Amritsar.’
In the evening, Gadkari watched the retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border along with Mann. He also witnessed the flag-lowering ceremony.
