Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a 418 feet
national flag, the tallest in the country, at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab’s
Amritsar district.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar MP
Gurjit Singh Aujla and senior Border Security Force officials graced the
occasion.
The Union Minister revealed that a surveillance system
had been installed atop the flag to assist BSF troops in monitoring border
activities.
Gadkari said, “It is the golden day of my life. I have
come to the Attari-Wagah border for the first time. NHAI has installed the
tallest national flag here. This is a place that inspires you to be patriotic.
I have done a lot of things in life – tunnels, bridges but this is the most
amazing. I am delighted. I thank the jawans who are guarding our borders.”
“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,” he further
stated.
“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,” added 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,” informed the Union
Minister.
He added, “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.”
The minister added, “The work on 50 km, 4-lane
Amritsar bypass being built at a cost of Rs 1,475 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.”
Earlier, the Poonch Brigade of the Indian Army unfurled
a 72-feet-high national flag at Ajote War Memorial in Poonch to honour the
fallen heroes of the district on September 21. Indian Army in collaboration
with Flag Foundation of India installed the national flag.
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.
NE Watch Desk
