Mysore/Mysuru: Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri has entrusted the work of constructing a War Memorial in city to Nirmithi Kendra in view of inordinate delay on the part of Public Works Department (PWD) to execute the work.

Even the PWD has expressed its inability to carry out the works as it is tied up with various other projects. Nirmithi Kendra, a State agency, has expertise in many design and construction activities. It will take over the works with the same estimate that was given to the PWD and will follow the blueprint and the design that has been decided earlier. 

The Memorial will be constructed at the five-acre Public Park (previously a Parade Ground) adjacent to the Deputy Commissioner’s Office which is right in front of NCC Group Headquarters. The Memorial per se will come up at a plot measuring 40 x 40 feet inside the erstwhile Parade Ground. 

Presiding over a meeting to discuss regarding the War Memorial in city, the DC said that the Department of Kannada and Culture has released the first instalment of Rs.50 lakh and the work was entrusted to PWD. 

However, as the PWD officers were delaying the work, the money released to PWD would be withdrawn and the project will be handed over to Nirmithi Kendra.

She instructed officials to constitute a committee to monitor the work and complete it within the stipulated time.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, said that the step to handover the War Memorial works to Nirmithi Kendra was a well thought out move. “This will keep things moving and the long-awaited Memorial will be a reality soon. Work should happen and it does not matter who does it,” he said. 

When asked about the monitoring of the works, he said that the DC would constitute a committee to monitor the ground works. “The plan, design, funding and even the stones are ready and only the ground works and progress would be monitored by the committee,” he added. 

H. Channappa, Assistant Director, Department of Kannada and Culture, Rudresh, Deputy Director, Department of Horticulture and others were present.