Indian sailors' memorial to be completed in October

[Antipodean Andy]

Following on from Annie's Indian army memorial thread:

Sailors' memorial to be completed in October-Pune-Cities-The Times of India

PUNE: A first of its kind memorial is being built in Pune to commemorate the sacrifice of sailors who laid down their lives during the two world wars. The memorial built by Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) in association with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), will be opened for public in October.

"The construction work is underway and is expected to be completed by the first week of October. We are planning to open the memorial to public on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi," said Commodore Rajan Vir (retd), president of IMF, adding that the intention is too keep these sailors' memories alive.

"Many Indian sailors have lost their lives during World War I and World War II. Their sacrifice should get proper recognition and respect from the people. So we have planned to build this memorial. PMC has given the space to our organisation for this purpose," he added.

The memorial will come up at Bund Garden on an allocated space of around 200 sq ft. It will be built of black granite using the funds provided by PMC and IMF. Expected expenditure incurred will be around Rs 2 lakh.

Vir pointed out that nearly 7,955 Indian seamen lost their lives guarding the coasts in different parts of the world. IMF had approached the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of UK for procuring the details of these sailors.