When Wind Sets Limits For High-Flying Nationalism

The race to fly the tallest flag in the country comes at prohibitive cost. A month after a mammoth tri-colour, the largest in the country at 360 feet, was unfurled at Attari near the border with Pakistan, local authorities are vexed over frequent damage to the flag due to strong winds.

The Attari flag, which can be spotted from neighbouring Lahore, has been damaged for the fourth time, and according to officials, will not be hoisted until they find a way out. Pakistan was unhappy with the lanky flag (lankier than the parade soldiers!) at the international border as they feared that India could use the mast to spy over Pakistani land.

This though, is not the first-instance of high-flying flags being slapped around by nature. The tri-colour in Jharkhand was the highest at 294 feet until last month. Due to its height, it felt things no flag had ever felt before, and was damaged four times after it was installed. During one attempt, the flag got stuck at half mast, embarrassing the organizers and the state government. The army had to be called in to bring down the flag inaugurated by then defence minister Manohar Parikkar.

The Jharkhand High Court came to its rescue and asked the Paharai Mandir Vikas Samiti that put up the tallest flag of the country to not attempt to hoist again until they were sure that it wouldn’t be torn apart by high wind-speeds. There was no flag-hoisting on January 26.

The temple authorities have spent Rs 6.4 lakh till now on procuring replacement of flags. And the last flag they ordered was from Dubai at a cost of Rs 3 lakh. It too, made of a high-grade, weather-proof UV-coated polyester material, couldn’t hold itself up . The flag post was erected at a total cost of Rs 1.25 crore.

The Attari flag, with its dimensions of 120ft x 80 ft and a 360ft high flag-post, was installed at an approximate cost of Rs 3.50 crore and is an attraction for thousands of tourists who visit the border-crossing to watch the Beating Retreat Ceremony at sunset.

Unable to find out a way to check damage to the flag, the district administration has written to the state government to address this issue. "I have written to the Punjab Government and suggested that a committee of experts be formed to examine this (damage to flag) issue," Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said.

He said the committee may take a call on the size of the tri-colour. Sangha said that till a decision is taken, the flag will not be hoisted. Just a few days ago, the flag was stuck in a high tension wire due to a storm, after which power supply was stopped from the powerhouse for several hours.

Sangha said that the cost of single tri-colour comes to Rs 1 lakh and getting it frequently changed was not a feasible proposition.

At Rs one lakh per fitting, the flags do not exactly fall into the ‘feasible’ category. Jharkhand and Punjab though, are not alone in this race. Telangana thought it had the tallest-flag last year when a 275-foot tri-colour was installed in Hyderabad. There is also the case of the 269-foot high flag in Chhattisgarh’s capital city Raipur.