Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday called the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue at Rajkot Fort “unfortunate” and announced that a thorough investigation would be conducted by officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Navy on August 27. Shinde stated that the statue, which was damaged due to strong winds, will be reinstalled at the same location.
“The incident is unfortunate. The statue, designed and erected by the Navy, fell due to winds reaching speeds of around 45 km/h. Tomorrow, PWD and Navy officials will inspect the site to determine the cause. I dispatched Public Works Minister Ravindra Chavan as soon as I learned of the situation. We will identify the reasons and reinstall the statue at the same place,” Shinde said.
The statue, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, on December 4, 2023, has been a subject of controversy following its collapse.
In response, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule demanded accountability from the contractor responsible for the statue’s construction. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Sule urged authorities to blacklist the contractor, emphasizing the need for an investigation into the statue’s poor quality.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut criticized the incident, taking a dig at Prime Minister Modi. Raut remarked, “The rush to inaugurate the statue ahead of the Lok Sabha elections seems to have led to substandard work. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was disrespected for political gain.”
The investigation is expected to shed light on whether any negligence contributed to the statue’s collapse.
