1857 first war of independence: 5 years on, Mahendragarh war memorial yet to come up

Ravinder Saini

Mahendragarh, May 18

Despite the Chief Minister’s announcement over five-and-a-half years ago, the ambitious project of war memorial at Nasibpur village under the Narnaul subdivision is yet to be executed while an amount of Rs 35 crore has been sanctioned for the same.

The war memorial is to be built in commemoration of those, who sacrificed their lives while battling against the British Army at Nasibpur village in the 1857 revolt, during the first Freedom Movement. The battle was fought under the leadership of Rao Tularam and Pran Sukh Yadav.

Chief Minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar had announced the project in November 2016 during his visit to the district. Under the project, a war memorial park, open air theatre and an attractive entrance are to be developed on eight acres adjacent to Rao Tula Ram Shaheed Smarak already set up at Nasibpur village.

“Non-availability of adequate land for the project is the main reason behind the delay in the execution of the CM announcement despite sanctioning of the budget. Earlier, the memorial was to be built over 12 acres on the pattern of the war memorial in Ambala, but the authorities did not find adequate vacant land around the Shaheed Samarak,” said an official on anonymity.

While, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Om Prakash Yadav, who is MLA from Narnaul, said there was a technical issue behind the delay in the execution of the project, which had now been resolved.

“After the CM’s announcement, a gazette notification came to include Nasibpur village in the Urban Local Bodies (ULB), but I got it suspended in view of some local issues so that the gram panchayat could complete its tenure. Now, Nasibpur village has come under the ULB. Hence, we have sought time from the Chief Minister to lay the foundation stone of the ambitious project at the earliest,” Yadav claimed while adding that it would be a big step in respect of those, who laid down their lives for the nation in the 1857 revolt.

Manoj Kumar, SDM-cum-Administrator, Narnaul Municipal Council, said after removing encroachments, eight acre proposed land for the project at Nasibpur village had been made available to the department concerned for setting up the war memorial.

Rs 35 crore sanctioned

• The war memorial is to be built in commemoration of those, who sacrificed their lives while battling against the British Army at Nasibpur village in the 1857 revolt, during the first Freedom Movement. The battle was fought under the leadership of Rao Tularam and Pran Sukh Yadav.
• While an amount of Rs 35 crore has been sanctioned for the war memorial, the ambitious project at Nasibpur village under the Narnaul subdivision is yet to be executed