more-in Work on construction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in the Arabian Sea will begin on October 24. Vinayak Mete president of the Shiv Smarak Samiti said on Monday, “Work can start in October since all permissions from the technical high power committee in charge of monitoring progress of the project are in.” The Public Works Department (PWD) has awarded the contract to Larsen & Toubro for ?2,500 crore, while also amending it to add ?63 crore on account of the increase in the height of the memorial and ?18 crore to put in place a comprehensive security plan prepared by Mumbai Police. According to the security proposal submitted to PWD, the 126-metre tall equestrian statue and the 86-metre two-tier pedestal would be surrounded by hundreds of closed circuit television cameras, while speedboats will be deployed for patrolling. A 14-metre fortified wall would be erected around the islet, apart from a central control room to monitor the movement of tourists visiting the monument, officials said. Earlier this year, changes were made to the high power committee headed by the Chief Minister to make the statue two metres higher than the current tallest statue in the world: the Spring Temple Buddha (210 metres) in China. The temple was earlier 208 metres tall, but an addition of two metres by the Chinese authorities prompted the government to change its plan.

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