Under attack over the collapse of a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue nearly nine months after it was unveiled, the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra on Tuesday said the structure was built by the Navy, while the Opposition targeted the ruling alliance and sought Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's resignation.
As the collapse of the statue of Shivaji Maharaj, a revered figure in Maharashtra, in Sindhudurg district threatened to snowball into a major controversy ahead of assembly polls, deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said the state government has decided to install a bigger statue of the 17th century Maratha warrior king at the same place.
Minister Deepak Kesarkar, who hails from Sindhudurg, proposed a 100-foot statue of Shivaji Maharaj at the same location -- Rajkot Fort in Malvan tehsil in the coastal district -- around 480km from Mumbai. The collapsed statue was 35 feet high.
Following an outrage, the Sindhudurg police also registered a case against contractor Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil, both involved in the project, over the statue collapse incident.
An inquiry was already underway, Fadnavis said.
The Navy said it has noted with "deep concern" the damage caused to the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that was unveiled on Navy Day as a dedication to the citizens of Sindhudurg.
"Along with the state government and concerned specialists, the Navy has deputed a team to immediately investigate the cause of this unfortunate accident and initiate steps to repair, restore and reinstate the statue at the earliest," according to a statement by the naval force issued by its spokesperson in New Delhi.
A Navy official said Navy and public works department personnel visited the site of the collapsed statue on Tuesday.
The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot Fort on December 4 last year, collapsed on Monday afternoon.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday alleged a scam in the structure's construction. He also claimed that even Aurangzeb and Mughals did not insult Shivaji Maharaj in such a manner.
"We need the resignation of the chief minister for hurting the feelings of (the people of) Maharashtra. Public works department minister Ravindra Chavan should be sacked. They did not even spare Shivaji Maharaj and indulged in corruption," the Sena-UBT MP added.
The contract to build the statue was given to people close to the chief minister, he alleged, describing it as a serious issue.
Referring to Shinde's statement that the statue fell as winds were blowing at a speed of 45km per hour, Raut said winds along the coast are bound to be gusty.
In 1933, freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak's statue was installed at Girgaon Chowpatty in Mumbai, but it still stands tall. In 1956, then-PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru installed at the Pratapgad Fort in Satara district a statue of Shivaji Maharaj and it was still in the same condition, he maintained.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar Maharashtra president Jayant Patil termed the collapse as a serious issue and said the government did not take necessary precaution while installing the statue.
The government is responsible for it. The government organised only an event with the sole purpose of unveiling at the hands of the PM, Patil said.
Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar, Leader of Opposition in the assembly, demanded strict action against the contractor.
Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis sought to defend the government over the issue.
"The construction of the statue was not overseen by the state government but by the Navy. The individuals responsible for the fabrication and installation of the statue might have overlooked important local factors such as high wind speed and the quality of the iron used. The statue might have become more prone to rust due to its exposure to ocean winds," Fadnavis noted.
It is a question now whether the makers of the statue had comprehended all these factors before installing it, Fadnavis asked.
"It is our resolve to build a bigger statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the same site," the deputy CM asserted.
Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray criticised the administration for rushing with the statue's construction, and prioritising electoral gains over quality of work and described the collapse as a grave insult to Shivaji Maharaj.
BJP leader and former Union minister Narayan Rane said the incident cannot be termed as an insult to the Maratha warrior king.
“Is this (a matter of) insult? Is such an accident occurring for the first time in India? Entire buildings have collapsed. There were many such accidents during the 65 years of Congress rule,” Rane told reporters at a dahi handi event in Ghatkopar.
“The fact that the statue collapsed in just eight months means that something was faulty. But people should stop commenting on it till the technical report (into the collapse) is out,” said Rane, who was present at the ceremony in December when the statue was unveiled by PM Modi.
A letter by the PWD has surfaced revealing officials highlighting the structure gathering rust and its unpleasant looks.
The PWD letter, a copy of it is with the PTI, revealed that an assistant engineer of the department had written to a Navy official about the parts of the structure catching rust and looking unpleasant.
The letter was sent on August 20 by the assistant engineer attached to the PWD office in Malvan tehsil and addressed to Commander Abhishek Karbhari, Area Coastal Security Officer and Area Civil-Military Liaison Officer.
