Kolhapur city in western Maharashtra will soon get a 300-feet flag post to fly the tricolour, which would the “second tallest” flag pole in the country, a senior police officer said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to attend the flag hoisting ceremony on May 1, the foundation day of Maharashtra state, the officer, who recently visited Kolhapur to see the preparation work, said.
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“This flag post would be the second tallest in the country,” the officer said. A 360-foot high (110 meters) flag post, said to be the country’s tallest, was inaugurated on March 6 at the Indo-Pak Attari Border, just a stone’s throw from Pakistan. Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil confirmed the development saying all the necessary permissions from the Revenue and Home departments have been obtained for raising the flag post in Kolhapur.
The flagpole is going to be installed at the Police Garden located opposite of Superintendent of Police headquarters. Kolhapur Street Beautification Project, a registered trust, will be raising the flag post. About the development, Chandrakant Patil said, “It’s good that Kolhapur will get attention for something positive. The flag post and the Police Garden are being developed by a local trust, hence there is no burden on the state over the task and also its maintenance,” Patil told, according to the reports.
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Sujay Pitre, president of KSBP said, “The flag will be 90 feet long and 60 feet wide. We have purchased three sets of the flag as we can replace immediately if one of them gets damaged. At the base, the tapering flag pole will be five feet wide, while it will be 16 inches at the top. Six floodlights will illuminate the tricolour through the night. The total weight of the pole will be 24,000 kg.” The total expenditure incurred for the entire project is Rs 1.1 crore, which the Trust has raised through donations, he said.
“We are also going to install a CCTV camera on top of the Police Headquarters, which will provide a close-up shot of the flag on a TV screen. If anybody notices any damage to the flag, they will have to inform the Trust staff. We will immediately replace it,” he said.