Shivaji statue collapse: Navy claims maintenance lapses by Maharashtra govt; Joint Committee formed for probe

Even as BJP-led Maharashtra government and Indian Navy trade charges over the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Sindhudurg on August 26, defence sources told ET that a detailed maintenance schedule was shared with state authorities for its general upkeep.

According to the sources, the Navy handed over the statue to the Maharashtra government in April, but it suspects that periodic checks were not carried out by the authorities.

“As per initial assessment, rusting happened at the joints near nuts and bolts. Had the maintenance schedule shared by the Navy been followed by local authorities, rusting could have been fixed and the statue might not have collapsed,” a source told ET.



Just six days before the collapse, Malvan PWD wrote to the Navy and appraised it about the statue’s “deteriorating condition”, urging it to resolve the issue. The letter said sculptor Jaideep Apte carried out repair work in June. But nuts and bolts “have rusted due to rain and sea conditions”.

The sources said the nearly 28 ft statue was built in eight tiers, with 637 pieces affixed by wielding nuts and bolts. The material used was silicon-bronze. The sculptor had given a guarantee that the statue would stand for at least 200 years and would withstand wind speed of 140 km/per hour (equivalent to category III cyclone). “But it failed to withstand gusty winds of less than 60 km/per hour,” said one of the sources.

A joint technical committee headed by Navy officials has been formed to probe the collapse, sources said. State government representatives and experts are also part of the team.

“... however that doesn’t seem to be the case. The statue couldn't even withstand gusty winds that blew less than 60 km/per hour on the day of collapse . The committee will look into all this while ascertaining the cause of the fall,”added the official.


Elaborating on the timeline, another senior official said that the tender to build the statue was floated in August by the Navy. Thane-based M/s Artistry and sculptor Jaydeep Apte bagged the contract to build the statue at a cost of Rs 2.44 crore. While the cost was footed for by the Public Works Department, the Navy entered into the contractual agreement with Apte and made the payments.

“The artist is Kalyan-Dombivali based and had claimed that he had built tall statues in Australia and UK and given this background the contract was awarded to him. With the Navy's plan to observe the Navy day at Rajkot, the installation was completed by November end. Two tranches of payment was released in January that comprised 60 percent of the contract amount and the remaining payment was released in the second week of March, subsequently in April the statue was handed over to the PWD, Malvan,” elbaroted the source.

On December 4, on the occasion of Navy Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the statue. “.. it was the Navy’s idea to observe the Navy Day in Rajkot. They were responsible for the tendering, design, material used and cost. It looks like the Navy was in a hurry and the design was not even shared with its design department to check on its feasibility and the fabrication material used,” said another official.