Shivaji statue wouldn't have collapsed if...: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said if stainless steel had been used for construction of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at Rajkot fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, it would not have collapsed.

Gadkari also pitched for use of rust-resistant products in coastal areas.

The collapse of the statue of the iconic founder of the Maratha state on August 26 triggered a political row ahead of assembly elections in Maharashtra.

The road transport and highways minister said he has been pressing for the last three years that stainless steel should be used in the construction of bridges built close to sea.

Recalling his days as PWD minister of Maharashtra, he said he was constructing 55 flyovers in Mumbai and one person fooled him.

"He put some powder coating on iron rods and said those were rust-proof. But there was rusting. I believe that stainless steel should be used within 30 km of sea.

"If stainless steel had been used for the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji, it would have never collapsed," Gadkari said at an event in New Delhi.

Police in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district has issued a look out circular (LOC) against contractor Jaydeep Apte in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at Rajkot fort.

An LOC is issued to airports and all other exit points to stop Apte from fleeing the country.

Apte, a Thane-based sculptor, had executed the contract to make the statue.

Following its collapse on August 26, less than nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on the coastal fort, Malvan police registered a case against Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for negligence and other offences.

Patil was arrested from Kolhapur, whereas search was on for Apte, a police official said, adding that Malvan police has now issued an LOC for him.