The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smarak or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial is a monument under construction dedicated to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj , the 17th century Indian warrior king and founder of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of S ...

. The statue will be located in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

, near the coast of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, Maharashtra. Memorial construction is expected to be completed by October 2022.

History

Volunteers collected water from various rivers in the state and soil from Shivaji's forts for the foundation-stone laying ceremony on 24 December 2016 by the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the List of chief ministers of Gujarat, Chief Minist ...

. In 2016, Egis in India was appointed the Project Management Consultant. Egis in India is the local arm of the France-based Egis group. On 1 March 2018, a Letter of Acceptance was issued to the contracting firm Larsen & Toubro to commence construction of the project. Initial plans for the project called for the foundation to be built from reclaimed basalt and rubble from the Colaba–SEEPZ metro tunnel. However, due to delays associated with the monument, the rubble is no longer reserved for the monument, and is being transported to quarries for storage.

Project details

The statue will be located facing Mumbai's Girgaum Chowpatty beach, away on a manmade island of rocks. The statue will be total height from base of pedestal to tip of sword: statue of horse and rider with a sword in height, placed on top of a pedestal. Statue was initially planned for 192 metres, however was increased to 212 metres as the state government wanted to keep the statue as the tallest competing against an upcoming statue Spring Temple Buddha in China. The project area is planned to be spread over . It is expected to be completed in 2021. Initially the total cost of the project was estimated to be about , but cost-reduction measures have resulted in a contract worth 2500 crores. The completed vision of the project will include visitor centre buildings, a memorial garden, a library, food court, and convention centre with room for approximately 10,000 people. The memorial will also have a museum, exhibition gallery, amphitheater and hospital. The memorial will showcase replicas of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's forts.

Connectivity

The memorial will be reachable by boat jetty,

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard ...

and an extension spur of

Mumbai Metro The Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit (MRT) system serving the city of Mumbai and the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region in Maharashtra, India. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is responsible authority for maintaining the metro sys ...

. Since Mumbai has four rainy months every year which makes access to memorial by boat difficult, a 1.2 km undersea metro rail connection from Cuffe Parade on Mumbai Metro Line 3 option for connecting the Shiv Smarak was finalised after considering various ropeway and metro rail options. This option, with a cost of , will provide all weather connectivity during all 12 months of the year. Earlier, options of another undersea metro rail route from Girgaon Chowpatty, or an aerial ropeway and

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet ...

sea link were also considered before deciding on the shorter Cuffe Parade Metro Link.

Issues

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (translation: Maharashtra Reformation Army; MNS) is a Regionalist far-right Indian political party based in the state of Maharashtra and operates on the ideology of " Hindutva" and "Marathi" Manus. It was found ...

president

Raj Thackeray Raj Shrikant Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ ʈʰaːkɾeː born Swaraj Shrikant Thackeray; 14 June 1968) is an Indian politician and the founding chairperson of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a regional political party. Raj wa ...

had suggested in 2016 that the money could be better utilised for the development and maintenance of the

Shivaji's forts Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of Maratha empire in western India in 1664, was well known for his forts. Many, like Panhala Fort and Rajgad, existed before him but others, like Sindhudurg and Pratapgad, were built by him from scratch ...

and palaces in Maharashtra, many built during the reign of Shivaji maharaj. The Koli fishing community staged protests in 2017 and expressed their fear that they will lose their livelihood.

Status

In February 2021, the detailed project report from Maharashtra state Public Works Department (PWD) and the environment clearance from the

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. This ministry is headed by Secretary Rank senior most IAS officer. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of ...

were awaited for the undersea metro rail link from Cuffe Parade to Shiv Smarak. In August 2021, the project was stalled since January 2019 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, only the

bathymetry Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of seabed, ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of w ...

survey complete while the geotechnical survey was underway. Consequently, state PWD proposed extending project completion date by a year from 18 October 2021 to 18 October 2022.

References