New tender issued for taller, stronger Shivaji Maharaj statue after Malvan collapse

Mumbai: Less than a month after the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj fell in Malvan, the state public works department has issued a tender to construct a new statue. The Kankavli division of the PWD published the tender on Tuesday. The state has sanctioned ₹20 crore for this purpose.

Ajaykumar Sarvagod, the executive engineer of PWD in Kankavli, said, "We are going to be careful now. The new statue will be constructed along the lines of the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. The statue that fell was 33 feet tall, and the new one will be 60 feet in height. The company that wins the bid will have to guarantee that it will last for 100 years and maintain it for the first ten years."

The terms and conditions stipulate that the statue must be completed within six months.

The original statue was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 December, on the eve of Navy Day at Sindhudurg. Its collapse on 26 August caused immense embarrassment to both the state and central governments.

Following the incident, the state established two committees: one to investigate the causes of the collapse and another, led by Additional Chief Secretary (PWD) Manisha Mhaiskar, to oversee the creation of a grand statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The latter committee includes Sadashiv Salunke, Secretary PWD (roads); Commodore S Doraibabu of the Indian Navy; R S Jangid and S Parida of IIT Mumbai; Rajiv Mishra, director of J J School of Architecture; Raje Raghuji Angre, naval historian and descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's admiral Kanhoji Angre; historian Jaisingh Pawar; and others.

In the aftermath of the statue's collapse, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde consulted numerous sculptors for their views on constructing a new statue. Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar publicly apologised for the incident.

The committee investigating the causes of the collapse is headed by Commodore Pawan Dhingra and includes Sanjay Dashpute, Secretary PWD (buildings); Vikas Ramgude, former chief engineer of PWD and a structural engineer; RS Jangid from IIT Mumbai's civil engineering department; S Parida from IIT Mumbai's metallurgical sciences department; Pradeep Kumar, the director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Central Building Research Institute; and Rajesh Khaire, chief engineer (establishment) of Central Public Works Department in Chennai. Having completed field visits, the committee is now finalising its report.