A note of caution that the Assistant Engineer of the PWD's Malvan Division has issued a warning letter to seek information about the damaged status from Commander Abhishek Karbhari, Area Coastal Security Officer, Indian Navy regarding the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Fort Rajkot, Sindhudurg district. The statue crumbled down on August 26 has created tremors among officials.
The PWD said there were human rights issues related to the design of the statue and hasty installation to get it unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2023 as had the 13th direct descendant of the legendary Maratha warrior, Chhatrapati Yuvraj Chhatrapati, earlier.
The PWD had also found that the metal joints of the statue, made by Kalyan sculptor Jaydeep Apte, have deteriorated due to rust and corrosion caused by the monsoon and salty sea air. It has disfigured the statue to an ugly level, for which the statue has drawn criticism from the locals, public representatives, and tourists.
The PWD had, therefore, advised Commander Karbhari to take up these matters regarding the statue and act on them with the sculptor as a matter of urgency to come up with amicable long-term solutions to the issues at hand. The advice was never acted upon. This correspondence also revealed that Apte had carried out some repairs on the statue in June, only six months after the statue was unveiled, though some locals still critiqued the quality of the statue, stating that the work was done within a span of 85 days after the order was given to the sculptor on the 8th of September 2023.
Sculptor Apte had claimed that a statue of this size would usually take three years to be made, but he had completed this within six months. The 28-feet-tall bronze statue, set atop a 10-foot pedestal, portrays the Maratha king in an attacking pose with a lifted sword. A Sindhudurg Collectorate official has said that the statue collapsed due to the harsh weather conditions it was subjected to, besides its height and positioning.
According to Sindhudurg Collector Kishor Tawade, State PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan visited the site on Monday evening and discussed the situation. A probe would be initiated to ascertain the reasons that led to the collapse and the subsequent process to restore the statue.
The Navy has sent a team for investigating the incident and undertaking repair and reinstatement of the statue at the earliest. In view of the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Shinde government is on the receiving end of an assault by the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi allies, comprising Congress, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), the Chhatrapati's descendants, and Maratha leader Manoj Jarange-Patil.
Yuvraj Chhatrapati demanded a scientifically justifiable reconstruction of the statue so that the government does not make a mistake similar to one committed when constructing the statue just to complete it before the elections. Meanwhile, NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar warned the government that the recent failure is a small lesson compared to the statues built for long-term criticism and the Saamana Group for the publication demanded that those responsible for the fall be booked for corruption and ineffectiveness.
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