PM to inaugurate ‘Shaurya Smarak’ on October 14 in Bhopal

Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a ‘Shaurya Smarak’ here, constructed by the state government in honour of those who laid down their lives for the country, on Friday.

“Spread in an area of 12.67 acre land, the ‘Shaurya Smarak’ is constructed at a cost of Rs 41 crore,” an official of the Madhya Pradesh Public Relation Department said today.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has invited Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the three Service chiefs for the event, said the official.

The memorial will honour those who have laid down their lives for the country. It also will inculcate a feeling of patriotism among the masses, he said, adding that the “Prime Minister will inaugurate the memorial on October 14.”

An official release recently claimed that “the memorial is the first-of-its-kind and unique Shourya Smarak in the country.”

According to the detailed plan, it will have light and sound facility to narrate stories of bravery of the nation’s valiant soldiers, who have laid down their lives fighting enemies on the borders.

Chouhan had mentioned about the construction of India’s first ‘Shaurya Smarak’ in the city on the floor of the state Assembly when the project was conceived.

Chouhan, along with the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Deepak Kapoor, laid the foundation stone on February 23, 2010.

The idea to set up the memorial was initiated by current Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha during a programme in Delhi in memory of late Colonel Ajay Narayan Mushran where Chouhan was also present along with top defence personnel.

The memorial was designed by Mumbai-based architecture firm, UCJ Architecture and Environment.

PTI