The Times of India            12.09.2013

NMMC aims for the sky, to hoist tallest tricolour

NAVI MUMBAI: The upcoming headquarters of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) in Belapur has set its sights high, literally!

The building may soon have India's tallest national flag, with the height of the pole being 225-feet.

At present, 10 locations in the country have poles hoisting the flag at 207 feet. So, the pole at the building in Belapur will beat the rest clearly by 18-feet.

Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjeev Naik has approached the Flag Foundation of India, led by MP Naveen Jindal, for this record-breaking venture and is awaiting permission from the home ministry. "The tricolour is a symbol of unity of India. The flag reminds people to rise above political affiliations and perform their duties towards the country. Hoisting the flag at such a height will be a matter of pride for us," said Naik, who incidentally was Navi Mumbai's first mayor and is the son of NCP guardian minister Ganesh Naik.

"Navi Mumbai's guardian minister Ganesh Naik has consulted us," said CEO of the Flag Foundation of India Commander KV Singh, while adding, "We are now part of the elite monumental flagpoles club. Only 10 cities have such tall poles".

The existing tall flag poles in the 10 other cities are 207 feet high. The sizes of the flags are 72x48 feet each. High-speed motorized winch is used to raise those flags. It takes about 7-9 minutes for the flags to be hoisted or brought down. The flagpoles remain illuminated throughout the night. The flagpoles remain illuminated all night. The government has granted permission to fly these flags round-the-clock.

It is made using knitted polyester material. It is fabricated in Mumbai and manufactured in Ranjangaon near Pune. The 207-feet tall pole weighs 12.5tonnes and the flag weighs nearly 48.9kg.

Special care has been taken to maintain the quality of fabric since the flag can tear at such height due to high wind speeds. It has to be changed at regular intervals. Bajaj Electricals has been approached for the lights.