Mumbai’s Shivaji statue to be world’s tallest
MUMBAI:The statue of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, planned in the sea off the Mumbai coast, has received the environmental clearance required to become the world’s tallest statue.
On Monday, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) approved the state government’s application to increase the height of the statue from 192 metres to 210 metres, surpassing the 208m Spring Temple Buddha statue in China — the tallest in the world.
MCZMA officials said the environmental clearance was issued since other approvals were in place. “Our major concern was if the state had received height clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which they had. After they submitted all permissions to us and presented a comparison of different statues in the world, we were told that the tip of Shivaji Maharaj’s sword will be at 210 metres,” said Satish Gavai, chairman of MCZMA and additional chief secretary, state environment department. He added that a verbal clearance had been issued and within a few days, the state will be given a formal response. Last year, CM Devendra Fadnavis directed the finance ministry to make budgetary allocations of ₹3,600 crore for the project. However, members of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smarak Samiti, the group set up by the government to implement the project, said after the sanctioned height increase, the project cost now stands at ₹4,000 crore. The equestrian statue of the king has been planned on a rocky outcrop of 15.96 hectares, roughly 1.5km from Raj Bhavan, at the southern tip of Mumbai. The memorial will have a temple, museum, hospital, entrance modelled on the Raigad fort and a museum showcasing highlights of Shivaji’s life under the first phase with an expected cost of ₹2,500 crore.
CSMSS members said the construction work will commence in January 2018 and is expected to be completed by 2021. “MCZMA officials sanctioned the project based on its technical and legal aspects. We are expecting the formal response. We now have all clearances to go ahead with construction of the tallest statue globally,” said Vinayak Mete, head, CSMSS. “As opposed to the Statue of Liberty in New York or Christ the Redeemer in Rio, which are just statues, the Maratha king’s statute will have his life history on display and the coming generations will be inspired by his stories. The idea is to relay his teachings to the world,” he added.
Mete said there were plans of a helipad and an iMAX theatre in the second phase of the project.