New Delhi, Aug 3 (Inditop.com) Construction of the National War Memorial has been in a limbo for the last five decades due to the delay by the urban development ministry in allotting a land for it, the defence ministry said Monday.
The memorial, designed by noted architect Charles Correa, would be the first to commemorate the sacrifice of thousands of Indian soldiers in World War II and the wars that India has fought since independence.
However, the proposal to build the memorial close to India Gate has been gathering dust since the urban development ministry objected to it.
“The ministry of defence has requested the ministry of urban development to assign the requisite land. Since the construction of the National War Memorial is contingent upon the allotment of land by the ministry of urban development, that ministry has to expedite,” Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju told parliament.
The urban development ministry and the Delhi Urban Art Commission have been objecting to the memorial, saying it would spoil the ambience at the India Gate. However, the defence ministry says the monument would only be a little higher than the ground.
Most portions of the marble slabs on which the 50,000 names would be etched would actually be below ground level. They would be in a circular fashion around the canopy next to the India Gate. People can walk along the slabs, pay their respects and move to India Gate.
“It’s insulting as well as embarrassing that India is virtually the only country without a dedicated national war memorial. It is as if the 1947-48 Jammu and Kashmir operation, the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars and the 1999 Kargil conflict do not matter at all,” an Indian Army officer said, requesting anonymity.
