Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray has said that it would be difficult and prohibitively expensive to build the proposed grand memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai, here on Saturday.
The monument proposal was first mooted 20 years (2004) ago by the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government, then carried forward by subsequent regimes of Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena, the MVA administration of Shiv Sena (UBT)-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (SP), and still remains a 'live issue' under the present Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP rule. The project was expected to kick off in a big way after Prime Minister Narendra Modi went in a motorboat and performed the 'Jal Pooja' at the proposed site, 1.5 kms opposite the Marine Drive sea-face on December 24, 2016.
Raj Thackeray categorically that irrespective of the promises all these governments have made, "It is impossible and impractical to build the memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the sea off Mumbai." Pooh-poohing claims that the statue would be taller than the Statue of Liberty (Oct. 1886) off New York harbor, Raj Thackeray said that it is built on a tiny rocky island which is firmly entrenched on the sea-bed. "Here, there is no such thing. The government will have to create an artificial islet with materials. At today's rate, I can say that it will cost at least ₹25,000-30,000 crore. It's simply not possible to build the statue there," affirmed Raj Thackeray, reiterating his statement made eight years ago. He questioned the need to spend so much money, "when the real legacy is the majestic forts built by the Chhatrapati, why not revamp them", and asked whether we want to bequeath the future generations a statue in the sea.
