Even as the Statue of Unity in Gujarat dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is alreadya centre of a huge controversy, a similar if not as big a project is being undertaken in Mumbai.
India’s financial capital’s big ticket project – the Chhatrapati Shivaji monument – has received all the necessary clearances. In fact, it’s even got a completion target – 2019.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Ministry of Finance to make necessary funds available for starting work on the project. This is after he reviewed the egg-shaped basalt rocky plain in Arabian Sea, where the Rs 2000-crore structure will be built.
Here’s all you need to know about the monument that will soon be a part of Mumbai’s seascape.
- The statue will be that of Chhatrapati Shivaji mounted on a horse and wielding a sword, and it will be 192-metre-tall.
- The monument will cost between Rs 1,900 crore- Rs 2000 crore, and will be situated 3.5 kms into the Arabian Sea.
- Apart from an auditorium for a light and sound show on Shivaji’s life, the premises will have entertainment zones and a multi-cuisine restaurant, The Indian Express reported.
- The infrastructure of the monument will include transport facilities with jetties and an access route, as 10,000 footfalls daily are expected.
- The area will have a garden landscape, art museum, exhibition galleries and will be under CCTV surveillance, with adequate coastal security measures, The Indian Express reported.
Fadnavis said, “ My government is committed to constructing Chhatrapati Shivaji’s memorial. We have got all clearances required. There are some aspects being fine tuned to begin the work.”
- The idea for the project came up in 1980, but remained on the backburner till 2004, when the Congress-NCP government revived it, but failed to complete it owing to problems in getting clearances from union environment ministry then, DNA reported.
- The current union Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar said,
“The Centre has already given its go-ahead to the state government’s project. Yet, if there are any aspects which needs to be re-looked or reworked we will coordinate with the state government.”
- The Shiv Sena has supported the CM for the project saying that he has shown the political will to accomplish it, which the previous regime did not.
Feature image source: Reuters