Guwahati Smart City Limited seeks Mahatma-related memorabilia from public

Work on for refurbishing Gandhi Mandap museum

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Guwahati Smart City Limited (GSC) has renewed its request to the public to donate to the Gandhi Mandap museum here any memorabilia associated with Mahatma Gandhi's visits to Assam as well as relevant correspondence.

This appeal has been made in connection with one of the two projects of the GSC which are currently underway at the Gandhi Mandap located atop the Sarania hill. The two projects include renovation and upgradation of the Gandhi Mandap Museum and setting up of a light-and-sound show at the premises. The museum renovation work, which has a fund allocation of Rs 5.60 crore, has made 40 per cent physical progress. On the other hand, work on the light-and-sound show, with a corpus of Rs 7.56 crore, has made 25 per cent physical progress.

It may be mentioned that the deadline for completion of both the works is October 2, which is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti.

The GSC has requested members of the public to donate any letter handwritten by Mahatma Gandhi to any person in Assam, clothes and objects used by the Father of the Nation during his trips to the State, photographs taken during his visits, original copies of books and periodicals edited or written by him, or any other memorabilia associated with him.

GSC officials said that such memorabilia would be displayed at the refurbished museum for future generations and persons who donate these items would be publicly acknowledged and honoured. The officials, however, informed that no such memorabilia has been received from the public so far.

The GSC had earlier completed one project in the Gandhi Mandap premises - beautification and renovation of the park at a cost of Rs 29.3 lakh. The GSC had also executed a project for erecting a 319.5-feet flagpole for the Tricolour atop the Sarania hill. The funds for latter project were provided by the Industries and Commerce Department.

The officials clarified that the 9,600 sq ft national flag is no longer flown on the giant flagpole on a daily basis because it gets damaged during gusty winds and storms. Instead, in accordance with a decision taken by the State Government the Tricolour will only be hoisted on special occasions like Independence Day and Republic day.

It may be mentioned that Gandhi Mandap is a museum constructed in memory of Mahatma Gandhi atop the Sarania hill, which is one of Guwahati's vantage points. Mahatma Gandhi visited the Sarania hill and thus this was selected as the venue for a museum in his memory. Mahatma Gandhi's first visit to Assam was in 1921 and his last was in 1946.

The museum was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi and former Chief Minister of Assam Bishnuram Medhi in 1970.

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