Maharashtra Government funded its cost, Rs 2.4 crore. Naval Dockyard, Mazgaon, issued the work order on September 8. The Navy’s connection comes into play only because of the Navy Day and Shivaji had built a naval fleet unparalleled during his regime that kept at bay sea-faring foreign powers and ruled the sea.
There’s not a word as to why the State government did not undertake it as it did spend another Rs 2.5Cr in getting the fort ready for the unveiling of the statue by Modi.
The unspoken oversight of the statue after its installation has been that of the State Public Works Department. They spotted the rusted nuts and bolts and wrote to the Navy on August 20 about it.
And within a week, the statue collapsed.
It was of hollow bronze
It was not a solid bronze statue but a hollow one with the shaped plates bolted together. Even the shaped plates were the outcome of 3D printing because the path to the top of the fort was narrow. Some 18 printers were set up at the site and assembled.
Why so?
Because within three months an event was to be held, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it and the artist Jaydeep Apte had no time; he had to hurry through that process; it had to be installed in time for the December 4 Navy Day, normally held at New Delhi. The venue shift to a seashore location was the first in its history.
No one is speaking of the hurried manner in which the statue was erected. Nor of the Indian Navy which selected one of the three models, this one of the Maratha warrior-king whose empire was bigger than any Mughal’s. Shivaji is standing with his arm raised, holding a sword.
Case booked against artist
The artist now has a case registered against him for attempted manslaughter because any tourist was likely to have been hurt when the statue collapsed. Not just him but the structural consultant Chetan Patil also faces similar charges.
Curiously, it was not the Navy but the PWD’s assistant engineer who filed the complaint to the police about the statue’s collapse which brings up the same question – if the Navy selected the model and had the statue erected, why did the PWD file the complaint?
Those who are talking about the likely culpability of the State government are unable to explain why. The NCP (Sharad Pawar), on Wednesday (Aug. 28), organized a bandh in Konkan’s Malvan region to test the waters and enlarge them if possible. The bandh was successful. Politicians are keeping the State government and not the navy’s role in the crosshairs.
The state government is easy prey because Shivaji’s legacy is dear to every Maharashtrian, and a Maharashtrian need not be a Maratha. It is an emotive issue, and the trial balloons were sent up today in Malvan. Elections to the Assembly are only weeks away.
Mahesh Vijapurkar is a senior journalist who has extensively reported on developments in Tamil Nadu, erstwhile AP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra.
