Congress minister says state is moving cautiously as the issue requires much work.
On the first day of the assembly, the state government was forced into a corner over the proposal to erect Shivaji’s statue on the Arabian Sea, off the city’s most famous promenade, Marine Drive.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said the state was considering moving the statue site to the Worli Fort, also on the seafront, due to non-availability of environmental clearances from the central and state governments.
His statement led to the ruckus in the assembly on Thursday. The Opposition members in both houses attacked the government for going back on its word. However, sources dismissed the Opposition’s claims, saying the government was merely moving cautiously on an issue that required much work.
A senior Congress minister dismissed Pawar’s statement. “The secretary merely noted on the file that any such project will violate the existing CRZ (coastal regulation zone) and environmental laws,” he said.
He added that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, contrary to the claims of the Opposition, had discussed the issue in April last year when he met the then minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh. “It was decided that the state government would seek exemptions in the CRZ and environmental rules for both Shivaji’s statue and the Ambedkar memorial at Chaityabhoomi, which is also on the seafront and thus attracts CRZ rules,” the minister said.
The file was delayed because Ramesh was moved out of the environment ministry and the new minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, is still to meet the officials. The Indu Mill land, on which the Ambedkar memorial has been proposed, is yet to be acquired by the state government.
A senior NCP minister warned that a statue on the Arabian Sea, would never take off. “Many clearances are needed to even put a brick into the sea. And even if the government gets all the necessary clearances, for sure some people who live on Marine Drive will file a case that will drag on for years,” he said.
Marine Drive residents have opposed the plan for any statue off the promenade. And while the example of the Statue of Liberty in New York is often cited, it was pointed out that the statue was built on an existing island.
Political observers are wondering why Pawar, who is from the NCP, suddenly raised the issue about the Shivaji statue, and that too in front of the media.
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