MUMBAI: A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj , unveiled by PM Modi at Rajkot fort in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg last year, collapsed on Monday. Terming the incident "unfortunate", Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that "due to strong winds of around 45 kmph," the statue "erected by Navy..
. fell and got damaged". He promised to reinstall it.
Opposition parties, on the other hand, slammed govt and alleged it had paid little attention to the quality of work. The 35-foot statue collapsed at around 1pm. Experts will ascertain the exact cause of the collapse , an official said.
Senior police and district administration officials have reached the site to take stock of the situation, he said. Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje of Kolhapur, the 13th direct descendant of Shivaji, said, "The statue was erected in a haste to be inaugurated by the PM. We had written to the PM and demanded that this statue, which was shapeless and was erected in haste, be changed.
" In this Maharashtra, there is no such unfortunate thing as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's memorial collapsing within a year. In such a situation, with what authority will we talk about Maharaj's forts," Sambhajiraje said in a post on X. The state PWD had on Aug 20 written to the Area Coastal Security Officer about the precarious condition of the statue, pointing out that despite repairs carried out in June by the sculptor, Jaydeep Apte, the local gram panchayat and tourists had complained that the statue looked shaky.
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