Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 29

Brig KG Behl (retd), patron of the Dehradun Ex-Services League, here today expressed surprise at the scheduled laying of the foundation stone of the Uttarakhand State War Memorial at Chir Bagh by the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, tomorrow. The authorities had not intimated ex-servicemen associations on the issue, he said.“How it has been named Saurya Sthal instead of war memorial is not known. The design of the memorial has not been approved by any retired or serving defence official,” he said.Brig Behl added it was surprising that the ex-servicemen, who were involved in locating and designing the war memorial right from its inception, were purposely ignored.He said earlier the project was required to be taken up under the auspices of the Directorate of Sainik Kalyan Punarvas and Uttarakhand Sub-Area, but now it was being constructed under the Cantonment Board.He added that one acre had been allotted for the war memorial. The authorities should ensure that the war memorial should be appropriate and should function properly.