No change in Shivaji statue plan: Maha CM tells House

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavistoday told the Legislative Assemblythat there was no change in the Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial project which envisages construction of the 210-metre tall statue of the Maratha king off the Arabian sea.
The chief minister's clarification came after Opposition Congress and NCP claimed that the government has reduced the height of the proposed statue, which is supposed to be the tallest in the world.
"The design and plan that has been approvedfor the project is being maintained. We will ensure the statueis the tallest in the world. The plan was prepared with a 60:40 ratio ofthe statue to the pedestal," said Fadnavis.

Taking a swipe at the members of the Congress and NCP, he said they could not even lay a brick for the project in 15 years of their rule.
Earlier in the day, NCP's Jayant Patil said the height of the statue has been decreased by changing the earlier design.
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said fresh environmental clearance are needed as the design has been changed.

Chavan said as per the earlier plan, the height of the statue was proposed to be 160 meters and that of pedestal at 32 metres.
"However, the government has changed the plan as per which the statue will be 126-metre tall and the height of the pedestal will be 84 metres," he said.

The proposed memorial is to be built on 6.8 hectares of reclaimed land in the middle of the Arabian Sea.