Mumbai: A huge statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district on Monday, less than nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While experts would ascertain exactly why the statue at Rajkot Fort gave way. an official said a probable reason could be the heavy rains and gusty winds that have lashed the district in the last two to three days.
The 35-foot statue, unveiled by Modi on Navy Day December 4 last year, collapsed around 12.30 pm. The statue started tottering and then came crashing down, breaking into multiple pieces, said an official from the district Collectorate.
Sindhudurg Collector Kishor Tawade and a team of officials and engineers from the Navy had reached Malvan to carry out a spot inspection
The Rajkot Fort is located on a rocky stretch around 3 kms from its more famous cousin, the Sindhudurg Fort, situated on the south-west in the Arabian Sea.
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VIDEO | A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, unveiled at a fort in Maharashtra's coastal Sindhudurg district just eight months ago, collapsed yesterday.
In a related development, following sudden collapse of life-size statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot fort in Malvan of Sindhudurg district, opposition parties including Shiv Sena (Thackeray) and Congress party took an aggressive stand, warning the state government that a state-wide agitation will be called if the BJP-led government failed to take a stern action against guilty officers, who were responsible for inferior quality of construction of the statue.
Shiv Sena-UBT MLA Vaibhav Naik, while expressing anger on collapse the statue in just eight months after inauguration by PM Modi in late last year, claimed that the government will now try to blame others for the fall of the statue.
The government has had spent large amount on the statue, he said while demanding for stern action against the concerned officers.
While, Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe accused the ruling BJP of using Chhatrapatii Shivji Maharaj's statue for politics and the vote bank politics.
However, BJP always insulted Shivaji Maharaj and Maharashtra, he claimed.
Meanwhile, state minister Deepak Kesarkar said, "This is a very unfortunate incident and he is taking details of the incident. Their first preference is to re-install the same statue on a fort since it is emotionally significant.
While, district guardian minister will inquire into this incident.