After six duds, Telanagana now fetches Tricolour from Sharjah

Telangana is importing a national flag from the internationally acclaimed Sharjah-based building material supplier Channel Group to ensure that the second tallest national flag is hosted, even in heavy winds. 

“We want to test the strength of this cloth in Hyderabad's unique weather condition,” Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) sources told Asianet Newsable.

The government was informed that the cloth provided by Sharjah Company could withstand the high altitude wind velocities.

HMDA said, "First we are buying one piece on a pilot basis to test the strength of the flag for three months. If it remains undamaged, we will place an order for more flags."

The flag hoisted by Telangana in Hyderabad, on the second tallest pole in India, suffered some damage due to heavy winds. 

In their enthusiasm to implement chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's wishes (KCR), authorities failed to spare a thought to technical aspects like wind velocity and the strength of the cloth of the flag.

Back in May, KCR announced that to commemorate the formation of Telangana, on June 2 he would hoist the largest tricolour in India on the tallest post in India, at 303 feet.

However, the hoisted flag was 72 ft /208 feet on a mast of 291 feet on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad.

Its height was reduced after the Airports Authority of India denied permission, sighting possible risk to aeroplanes.

It took less than a week for officials to realise that while hoisting the flag was easy, keeping it flying is a whole other matter, since the flag ripped due to the high-velocity winds at that altitude.

The flag was quickly repaired and re-hoisted. But it was damaged again on the same night.

So far officials have replaced the flag six times.

As repeated attempts by officials to keep that flag fluttering failed, HMDA officials studied the experience of the other tallest national flags in the country namely Ranchi (293 feet) and Faridabad (250 feet) which also faced the similar problem.

According to HMDA sources, officials in Ranchi are also procuring a high-strength flag from the Sharjah firm.

“The Sharjah flag is made of triple-yarn cloth. The Ranchi officials told us the cloth could defy high-velocity winds.  Indian-made flags can withstand a velocity up to 20 kmph. At the flag site, we are experiencing a velocity of about 24 kmph for the past two months. So, we hope that the new flag can stand firm even at this velocity as well," sources said.

The cost of the new flag is ₹3.5 lakh.