Oppn questions govt move to 'reduce' height of Shivaji

Opposition parties in the Legislative Council today cited a newspaper report to accuse the Maharashtra government of reducing the height of the proposed statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Arabian sea off Mumbai.

The issue was raised by Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde (NCP) through a point of propriety.

As per a report published in an English daily, the Maharashtra government in a bid to slash the cost of constructing the proposed statue has tweaked the design so that the height of the equestrian statue is now 7.5 metres shorter than originally proposed.

The report further stated that the sword of the king would be taller as per the new design.

Munde said the government move amounted to insulting the followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

He demanded assurance from the government that not an inch of the height of the statue will be reduced in the name of cost cutting.

Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap said they would arrange the shortfall of Rs 338 crore for the project but won't let the government reduce the height of the statue.

The government is yet to submit the reply.

The state government had originally proposed a statue standing 121.2 metres tall, including the sculpture of the king on his horse together measuring 83.2 metres, and a 38-metre sword.

The government had last month decided that the total height of the project would be 212 metres, making it the tallest statue in the world.

A Letter of Acceptance was issued to L&T for the project worth Rs 2,500 crore plus GST in March this year.

The "jal poojan" for the ambitious project was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.