As Mumbai observed the 17th anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks, a memorial installed in Kalyan in 2009 to honour five police personnel killed in the assault has vanished from its spot.
While a senior police officer said the structure had become unsafe after a speeding vehicle crashed into it, officials from the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation insist the junction is undergoing major redevelopment under the SATIS project and the memorial may have been removed during preliminary work an under-construction flyover.
The memorial stood at Mahatma Phule Chowk, a bustling junction on the Kalyan-Murbad Road, and was surrounded by the Mahatma Phule police station, Kalyan railway station, Ambedkar Garden, Rukminibai Civic Hospital, the traffic police office, the tehsildar office, and the Kalyan court. While the statues of Mahatma Phule and Dr BR Ambedkar still stand at the location, the 26/11 memorial, once placed at the centre of the traffic circle, is missing. If this is a high-density spot, why are the other statues still standing?
Residents said the original installation featured a rifle standing upright with a helmet placed on top and boots arranged at the base, an emblem used worldwide to signify fallen soldiers. Locals said people would dry clothes on the railings. It deteriorated with time, with one person even stating that it is better if it had disappeared since it was painful to look at it in this state.
Memorials for 26/11 need to be maintained. They are a part of the history of this city, a salute to heroes, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice during the terror attacks. They are not mere installations. It is inexcusable and grossly disrespectful that they degenerate into ruin, and worse, that they ‘disappear’ without a trace. It shows just how much some care for the men in uniform who died for this city.