Faulty welding, rust caused Shivaji statue collapse

The 35-feet statue of the legendary Maratha king, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4 last year on the occasion of Navy Day celebrations, collapsed at Rajkot fort in Malvan on August 26. While, the incident created a huge uproar in Maharashtra, who hold the king in deep reverence, it also caused an immense embarrassment to both the state and central governments.

Following the crash, the state government appointed a five-member committee led by senior Indian Navy officer Pawan Dhingra and experts from PWD (public and works department) and IIT-Mumbai to investigate the causes of the collapse.

The committee submitted its 16-page report to the state government on Wednesday. In its report, the committee has said that the frame of the statue was not strong enough to bear the load of the 35-feet tall statue. In addition to this, poor welding works and the onset of rush led to the crash. The report also pointed out a lack of regular maintenance works, which further hastened the collapse.

State Minister Uday Samant assured that strict action will be taken against those responsible for negligence, as per the recommendations of the inquiry committee.

Jaydeep Apte, the sculptor responsible for making the statue that collapsed, was arrested on September 4. The structural consultant of the statue Chetan Patil was also arrested over the incident.

In response to the collapse, the Maharashtra government has announced plans to build a 60-feet new statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the same site. The Public Works Department has initiated a tender process with an allocation of ₹20 crore for the construction of the new statue. The company that builds it will have to give a guarantee that it would last at least a hundred years.