Days after the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg, the Maharashtra government has taken swift action to address the situation as a committee has been formed to expedite the construction of a new statue at the same site. According to an official notification, Manisha Mhaiskar, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Public Works Department, will head the committee. Historian Jayasingrao Pawar has been specially invited to be a member of the committee.
Additionally, experts and professors from IIT Mumbai, specialising in engineering, have also been included in the committee. The Maharashtra government has formed this committee to conceptualise and outline the procedures for the new construction work. This comes after the 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by the Prime Minister on December 4 last year, collapsed on August 26 afternoon. The incident has sparked widespread concern and criticism across the state, given the historical and cultural significance of the Maratha warrior king.
Case filed against statue's artist
Following the incident, the police registered a case against the statue's artist Jaydeep Apte and arrested its structural consultant Chetan Patil. Questioning the government over the issue, Danve, who is the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council, said in a post on X, "The chief minister formed a committee over the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue after we (opposition members) went to the Rajkot fort. This issue is linked to the soul of Maharashtra. If the CM respects Shivaji Maharaj, he would answer my questions."
Shivaji Maharaj's statue collapses
The statue of Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, collapsed on August 26. The 35-foot statue collapsed at Rajkot Fort in Malvan. PM Modi had inaugurated the statue on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day. He had also participated in the celebrations at the fort. Meanwhile, the statue collapse incident has snowballed into a political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) targeting the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra and seeking Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's resignation.
