SHIVAJI STATUE IN SEA: CONG SLAMS GOVT OVER DESIGN

MUMBAI: The Congress has alleged that the state government has compromised with the safety aspect as well as the original design of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial project. The party on Thursday alleged that while reducing the cost of the project by Rs1,326 crore to bring it down to Rs2,500 crore, major civil, structural and electrical work had been done away with and the size of the statue was reduced substantially.

Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, slammed the government over alleged corruption in the project. “Though the government has been claiming that Larsen and Toubro , the state government-appointed contractor had reduced the cost of the statue, it was a compromise made for financial reasons. Vinayak Mete, the head of the committee appointed to implement the project, has admitted the corruption by the public works department officials and this has proved that the government is misleading the people of Maharashtra. The BJP, which rose to power in the state by using the name of Shivaji Maharaj, has belittled his stature. Fadnavis has lost the moral right to remain in the chair,” he said.

Public works department minister Chandrakant Patil said, “It’s a routine process of any government tender of going for negotiations after choosing lowest bid. We negotiated with the Larsen and Toubro without compromising on any specification. The allegations are baseless and the height of the statue has not been reduced.”