Gujarat Govt plans Operation Sindoor memorial park near Pakistan border in Kutch
The high density forest or a 'van kavach' will come up over eight hectares of land belonging to the forest department in Mirzapar on the Bhuj-Mandvi road
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Forest department officials survey the area for the Sindoor Van in Kutch (Express)The Gujarat government is working on a memorial park dedicated to Operation Sindoor — India’s military response to terror emanating from Pakistan — as a mark of respect for the defence forces as well as the unity the nation displayed, officials told The Indian Express.
The memorial, which will be called ‘Sindoor Van’ (forest), will come up in Kutch district on the India-Pakistan border, which bore the brunt of the attacks in Gujarat from the other side. The memorial is expected to be completed in about a year and a half, officials said, adding that initial work has begun on the ground.
“In memory of the unity exhibited by society, Army, Air Force, BSF and other forces during Operation Sindoor, the Sindoor Van — a memorial park — is being planned by the forest department,” Kutch Collector Anand Patel told The Indian Express.
The high density forest or a ‘van kavach’ will come up over eight hectares of land belonging to the forest department in Mirzapar on the Bhuj-Mandvi road. The land includes the part where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public meeting during his first visit to Gujarat after Operation Sindoor, Collector Patel said.
During the May 26 public meeting, the Prime Minister was gifted a ‘sindoor plant’ by women from Madhapar who had helped repair the Bhuj air base runway within 72 hours during the 1971 war. In his address, Modi had said that he will take the plant to the PM House where it will turn into a “vatvriksh” (banyan tree).
The Sindoor Van will also have an area dedicated to the victims of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Three of the 26 Pahalgam victims were from Gujarat.
“Sindoor Van will be a theme-based memorial park based on Operation Sindoor with a high-density plantation, including herbs, shrubs and trees, on eight hectares of land. This will take a form of a van kavach or a micro forest in an urban area with Sindoor plants dominantly planted as well as murals which will be developed in different sections like BSF, Army, Air Force, Navy,” said Sandeep Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests, Kutch Circle.
Suiting the local environment and soil conditions, around 35 plant species have been identified along with Sindoor plants. “We have planned 10,000 plants per hectare, which will be one of the densest forests in Bhuj,” Kumar said.
Visitors to the Sindoor Van will also experience dioramas of combat equipment and aircraft used during Operation Sindoor.
During Operation Sindoor, more than 600 missiles and drones from across the border were thwarted by security forces in Bhuj sector in Gujarat and Barmer sector in Rajasthan, Inspector General of the BSF’s Gujarat frontier Abhishek Pathak had said during a briefing last week. Of this, IG Pathak said, “About 40 per cent of the attacks were in Gujarat while the rest were in the Barmer sector.”
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