The Environment Ministry on Thursday gave its nod to a plan for constructing statue of Maratha warrior king Shivaji off the coast of Mumbai.
The proposed 309-foot-tall statue is to be located off the Marine Drive along the Arabian Sea. The memorial is to be built on the lines of Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari and the Statue of liberty in the US.The project had been pending since the last few years. However, the issue got sorted out after Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis met Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar recently for expediting the matter.
The then Congress-led Democratic Front Government in Maharashtra had first made an announcement on Shivaji memorial in 2004. The issue had been pending since then in want of environment clearance. The then Congress-NCP Government had also allocated Rs100 crore for the project.The foundation stone of this much hyped project would be laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19, next year.
Besides a life-size statue of the Maratha king, the project also includes the construction of a museum, auditorium, library, exhibition hall and amphitheatre. While the project had earlier faced opposition from the Navy, it was also pointed out that it will violate the norms of the Coastal Regulatory Zone.