Patriotic fervour pervaded Karimnagar town on Friday with schoolchildren, members of voluntary organisations, elected representatives, district officials and local residents arriving in hordes to witness hoisting of the national flag on Telangana’s second tallest monumental flag pole at the sprawling Government Old High School premises.
The streets reverberated with the slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ as students of various educational institutions made their way to the venue. Condemning the suicide attack on CRPF jawans by terrorists in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the gathering observed two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the martyrs.
The Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar installed the 150-metre flag pole at a cost of ₹76 lakh. The flag measures 48 feet in length and 32 feet in breadth. Under the National Flag code, an oversized national flag that is hoisted on an over 100 feet pole is allowed to fly 24x7 if it is illuminated at night.
Karimnagar MP B. Vinod Kumar along with Rajya Sabha member Captain V. Lakshmikantha Rao, Karimnagar legislator Gangula Kamalakar, MLC Naradasu Laxman Rao, Mayor S. Ravinder Singh, Zilla Parishad chairperson Tula Uma, Commissioner of Police V.B. Kamalasan Reddy, Joint Collector G.V. Shyam Prasad Lal and Municipal commissioner K. Satyanarayana participated in the flag hoisting and sang the national anthem.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinod Kumar said the installation of the flag post aims at promoting patriotism. Recollecting his participation in the Indo-Pak war, Capt. Rao condemned the cowardly attack on CRPF jawans and paid tributes to the martyrs.
Later in the day, visitors made a beeline to the spot and took photographs at the flag pole. The schoolchildren captivated the gathering with a cultural programme themed around patriotism and sacrifice made by soldiers.