Balidan Stambh, a unique war memorial at Bahu Wali Rakh sans immediate Government attention. Conceived in the year 2005, located on the way to Bahu Fort, construction started in 2008 and got inaugurated in the year 2009. Eternal flame ‘Amar Jyot’ symbolising the ‘battle casualty soldiers’ is there but no caretaker. Like many other monumental projects of Jammu this Balidan Stambh raised at a cost of sixteen crores by the Army is now in total ruins. Once conceived to be a tourism spinner for Jammu now waits for few visitors daily who are greeted now by barbed wires and locked gates, a whole company of Jammu and Kashmir police is permanently stationed here, but unable to protect it from thieves. Utter negligence and least bothered attitude of Army and local administration is glaringly exposed as visitors are greeted with dumped broken tiles and wild grass in the whole area.
Non-functional rusted fountains tell the story of no maintenance as rusted pipes have broken down at many places as such fountains cannot be made operational. Even electrical panels are broken and lying exposed waiting for some tragedy to happen. Three layers of water, each at a different level signifying grief, are totally missing. Initially planned to be handed over to civil administration but each subsequent State Governments have refused to take over and as such right now it is caught in between Army and civil administration, practically this Jammu project is no one’s baby right now. While administration is busy in promoting floriculture with lakhs of imported Tulips and what not but on the other hand this Balidan Stambh garden is not deemed fit for even Lilium flowers. Practically even with a tourism budget of 786 crores, UT administration is not able to spend few lakhs to maintain this epitome of supreme sacrifices of our jawans. A sense of disbelief and guilt, how when we talk so high about our Army and jawans then why this epitome of sacrifice is being brazenly neglected.
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