Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday visited the Rajkot Fort where a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed recently and vowed to erect a grand new statue at the same place soon.
Visiting the Fort in Malvan, Pawar inspected the place and interacted with authorities here. The statue was constructed by the Indian Navy and was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Navy Day celebrations last year. The state government faced severe public outrage following the collapse of the statue.
Visiting the Fort, Pawar tweeted Shivaji is the pride and self-respect of Maharashtra. “ Very soon, a grand statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be installed at the same place. This is my word,” Pawar said.
Pawar had earlier apologised to the people of the state for the collapse. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had also apologised for the collapse.
Meanwhile, a technical committee led by the Indian Navy has been set up to study the cause of the collapse and to take measures for repair. The Indian Navy expressed concern over the collapse and said it would work jointly with the Maharashtra government to reconstruct the statue.
The Maharashtra police arrested Chetan Patil, the structural consultant of the statue from Kolhapur on Friday. However, Patil had earlier said he was not involved in the construction of the statue.
