After getting several complaints of damage, the Public Works Department has decided to bring down all 500 national flags across Delhi, officials said on Saturday.

The PWD has hoisted large national flags at around 500 prime locations in Delhi, but due to bad weather, including strong winds in the past few days, several of these were damaged.

“We will re-hoist the flags after the thunderstorm warning of IDM is cleared. Due to strong winds and bad weather, several flags were torn and damaged, so we have decided to bring all of them down across the city to prevent further damage,” a PWD officer said.

According to an official, these 115-foot-high flagpoles have been installed at around 500 locations. The flags are made out of polyester material to prevent them from frequent damage. However, they could not withstand strong winds.

The work of installing national flags started in 2022 when the previous AAP government, under its ‘Deshbhakti’ budget, announced the initiative to cover the entire city with tricolour to generate a sense of nationalism.

“Our teams are on the ground checking if any flag is damaged. We will replace them with undamaged flags, as these are big flags. It is taking some time, ” another official said.

While installing these flags, the department has taken into cognisance the 2002 Flag Code of India rules that pertain to the laws and practices around the display of the national flag.

The locations of the tricolours are key intersections on main roads to ensure that every resident of Delhi comes across these flags in their neighbourhoods.