Delhi: Plan to dot capital with Tricolours like one in CP

The Delhi government is setting up a high mast Tricolour in Azadpur Mandi like the one in Connaught Place’s Central Park as part of the AAP government ‘desh bhakti’ push, funds for which are being set aside in the upcoming annual budget, an official said Saturday.

More such structures will come up across the city in the months ahead.

The proposed 110-foot flag mast at the Azadpur agricultural produce marketing committee will be set up at a cost of Rs 17.12 lakh, according to the tender floated for the project. The mandi is spread over 80 acres.

“The plan is to decorate the entire city with Tricolours. The government will set up high-mast poles like the one in Connaught Place across the city. The budget is likely to have a detailed segment on this,” the official said.

The annual budget is likely to be presented on March 9.

The Tricolour at Connaught Place, which is 207-feet tall, was installed by the Flag Foundation of India, former Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal’s organisation, in 2014. Since then, it has emerged as a tourist draw in the area.

The budget, which is likely to have more overall allocation than last year, will have special allocation for events and initiatives under a ‘desh bhakti’ component, officials have said. The initiative has been taken to celebrate the country’s march into the 75th year of its Independence in 2022.

On Saturday, an official said that under the plan, events to commemorate the lives of Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb Ambedkar will be held. The events will coincide with the AAP’s push for national expansion, as part of which it plans to contest assembly polls in five BJP-ruled states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Himachal Pradesh — in 2022, apart from Congress-ruled Punjab.