Shivaji memorial off Mumbai coast gets final approval, will cost Rs 2,000 crore

MUMBAI: The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue and memorial in the Arabian Sea has been finally approved as a "permissible activity". Mantralaya sources said that since the project is environmentally sensitive, it will cost approximately Rs 2,000 crore to ensure that it does not cause any environmental damage.

Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday announced that the Maharashtra government's revised proposal for the memorial had been approved by the ministry of environment and forests ( MoEF). "The road to construct the statue in the Arabian Sea is now clear. The notification will be issued shortly," said Javadekar.

In January, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had recommended to the MoEF to consider a special dispensation under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification-2011 for the "proposal to install Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue and memorial in the Arabian sea as a permissible activity".

It had also asked the MoEF to delegate powers to the MCZMA under CRZ Notification 2011 to recommend the project from a CRZ point of view to the planning authority at the state level.

The proposal put forward by the state PWD includes a 190-feet statue that is to be erected on a rocky outcrop 1.5km from Raj Bhavan. The total area will be 15.96 hectares.

The plan, submitted to the MoEF, also comprises three levels of pedestal with museums, art galleries and recreation centres. On the mainland, there will be two jetties—the existing one at the Gateway of India and a proposed jetty at Nariman Point—to ferry passengers and commodities.

To make it environmentally sustainable there will be a sewage treatment plant and desalination plant along with wind mills, solar shelters, solar light poles, tidal turbines etc.

The memorial will consist of three layer pedestal of concrete with stone cladding of granite. Granite has been suggested by the Earth Science department, IIT, Bombay. The rocky outcrop will be fortified with a RCC sea wall.

The MCZMA found that the proposed activities of the proposal fall in CRZ IV and CRZ I areas and also involve reclamation. The proposal involves installation of the monument along with other facilities on the rocky out crop situated in CRZ IV area. It notes that the provisions of CRZ IV are silent on the permissibility of the proposed activities.

The MCZMA said it "in principle" agreed to the project. So when it recommended the project to the Centre it asked that it be considered as a special dispensation and as a permissible activity.