National Military Memorial likely on Vijay Diwas

BANGALORE: The completion of the first National Military Memorial (NMM) continues to be deferred. Earlier the project developers stated that they would be able to inaugurate the NMM on Kargil Diwas (July 26), but now they assert that it would be inaugurated on Vijay Diwas (December 26)The 65 feet flag mast was the only significant addition to the under construction project before Kargil Diwas. But the developers claim that this time the delay for the completion is the government itself as it continues to sit on the approval of the tender for the transportation of the ‘Veera Gallu’. The project, that first saw the opposition from environmentalists and residents after the foundation stone was laid in February 2009, is now staring at governmental procedures, which does not always come with a time line.Venkatesh, Engineer of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and in charge of the NMM stated that the project was 80 per cent complete. But added that without installing the ‘Veera Gallu’, they would not be able to start the landscaping of the park.“Now we await the arrival of the Veera Gallu, after which we shall be able to complete the rest of the works by November end which includes landscaping”, he said. “The 75 feet Veeragallu is being made in Koira Quarry in Devanahalli Village in the outskirts of the city”, Venkatesh added. But sources have stated that the delay in the government giving its nod for the `1.9 crores required for the transportation of the structure is causing further delays of the entire project. The structure requires specialised transportation and the BDA is said to have sent the tender for approval and also a reminder for the same as any tender above `1 crore requires the governments approval.Project developers claim that most of the artifacts that they sought from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has come through. “The memorial already sports a MIG 23 aircraft, Vijaynta Tank and an APC-BRT 60PB, will also display missiles such as Akash, Trishul and also a warship. But we still await the arrival of the naval warship model that we requested for”, one of the project developers told City Express. They also said that they would settle for a scaled down version of the 50 feet long ship if necessary approvals do not come through. Added to this, the developers have asked for materials from the museums of the MOD for purpose of display in their motivational hall and other display areas of the NMM as well.