External affairs ministerSM Krishna today praised the employees of the iconic Taj Mahal Palace & Towers Hotel in Mumbai, which bore the brunt of the 26/11 terror attack on the city, for preventing what could have been a greater tragedy.
"I would like to compliment the hotel (Taj Mahal Palace and Towers) staff, who were able to resist the terrorist attack and prevented what could have been a greater tragedy," Krishna said to the media after a meeting of the Parliamentary consultative committee on external affairs along with foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, at the recently reopened heritage wing of the hotel, which was massively gutted in the gun battle.
The Tata Group - which owns the hotel - chairman Ratan Tata reopened the 107-year-old heritage wing, which became the symbol of the worst terror strike on the country with its red burning dome, on August 15-nearly 21 months after it suffered extensive damages in the November 26-28, 2008 terror attack which took away the lives of 166 people.
The Taj's modern Tower wing reopened within a month of the attacks. The company spent Rs175 crore in repairing, restoring and upgrading the heritage wing. As many as 31 people, among whom and Taj 12 staff, lost their lives in the attack.
Describing the iconic hotel as a landmark of not only Mumbai but the entire country, Krishna paid homage and respect to all those who lost their lives during the gruesome attack.
Comments