Faulty design, poor execution, lack of upkeep led to Malvan statue collapse

The statue that had collapsed. File Pic

A probe committee has found that the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Malvan fort collapsed because of a faulty design that was executed poorly, resulting in rusting of the metal and weaker welding joints, after which improper maintenance took its toll on the project launched last year.

The 35-foot-tall statue had collapsed on August 26, leading to public unrest and political tussles between the ruling and Opposition parties, because PM Narendra Modi had inaugurated the statue just eight months ago. The Opposition had alleged corruption and action was demanded. Initially, the fall was blamed on high winds on the coastal fort of Rajkot. Subsequently, the statue's designer/sculptor Jaydip Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil were arrested on the charges of lapses.

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The Indian Navy had clarified that it had planned and executed the project which was financed by the Maharashtra government. A joint panel headed by senior Indian Navy officer Commodore Pawan Dhingra and experts from state and central Public works departments (PWDs) and IIT-Mumbai was asked to probe. The panel submitted a report to the government on Thursday. It has given reasons that led to the weakening of the structure that stood in coastal weather all through. The report will be submitted to CM Eknath Shinde.

Sources in the know said that it looked like a metal frame that supported the statue's hollow structure from inside did not have the material strength to withstand the adverse winds and weather conditions. In salty winds and marine weather, the welding joints, nuts and bolts that were used to stabilise the statue, rusted. Repairs were carried out by the sculptor, but that, too, didn't work because they were improper. The metal composition and other materials that were used to forge the statue parts and hold them together were also examined for their strength and utility in adverse weather conditions.

One of the contentious points was that the Navy had said that it had handed the project to state PWD for upkeep in April 2024. However, officers in the PWD had said that maintenance work was the sculptor's responsibility under the defect liability period. PWD officers have reiterated their stand, questioning the role of the agency (Navy) that had floated tenders and passed a faulty design that was executed poorly.

The PWD had said that it had informed the Navy a week ahead of the collapse about the dilapidated condition of the statue and asked for it to be repaired immediately. Apte had carried out repairs in June, but the nuts and bolts he used rusted due to weather conditions in the coastal region. The damage had altered the statue's appearance and created unrest in the local people and tourists, it had said further.

By his own admission in a media interview, sculptor Apte, who made the statue and installed it, had said that he had made three models within a week for design approval in June 2023, and once approved, he completed the casting work and then began joining the pieces from October 27, 2023. He said it would need three years to make a 28-foot statue, but he managed to create it in record time. Later, it had emerged that he hadn't taken mandatory approval from the State Department of Culture's statue/memorial cell for the enlarged statue model.

The state government has announced plans to build, at the same place, a 60-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that can last 100 years. The tendering for the same is in progress, with strict terms and conditions that were missing for the Malvan project that was completed in a great hurry.