Major Sandeep Shankla War Memorial facing lack of maintenance

Two temporary stalls — one of tea and another of cigarettes — have been operating in a corner outside the memorial park for a long time. A regular visitor to the park says, “Stalls are operated outside the memorial park. People smoke inside the park at night. These stalls are only removed when homage is paid to Major Sandeep Shankla on August 9 every year.”

An employee appointed with a water tubewell of public health department inside the war memorial park says, “The memorial was well-maintained and it was being cleaned regularly when it was under Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). But things changed when it was transferred to Municipal Council authorities. No sanitation employee has visited the memorial for the last more than one month.”

Sudhir Sharma, a local resident of Sector 2, says, “We are sad to see the terrible condition of war memorial. If it is not possible to clean it every day, authorities can clean it at least once in a fortnight.” The war memorial was constructed in the memory of Major Sandeep Shankla of 18 Dogra Regiment, who had sacrificed his life in a counter-terrorist attack while led to the elimination of nine terrorists and capture of 22 terrorists in August 1999.

Panchkula Mayor Upinder Kaur admits that the responsibility for public parks, including memorials, has been shifted from HUDA to Municipal Council but does not agree that the memorial is not cleaned. She says, “I will check it. The martyr’s father met me a couple of months ago and demanded the installation of dustbins, which were subsequently installed. I will ask the area councillor to look into it.”