Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial to be placed in Arabian Sea off Bombay coast

The state government of Maharashtra is planning to build a mega memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Mumbai city. While the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi is on a day visit to Maharashtra, he will lay the foundation stone for the grad memorial of the Maratha warrior king and will also inaugurate the metro rail projects in Mumbai and Pune.

The structure is estimated to be 192 metre tall and is taller than the famous statue of Liberty in America. The construction of the Shivaji memorial is slated at a jaw dropping amount of 3,600 crore and is roughly 1.5 km from the Raj Bhavan shore.

Even though the construction of this gigantic monument will start soon, it has garnered stiff oppositions from the city’s local fishing community as well as the city’s environmentalists. The marine life and the ecology of the Arabian Sea is at risk and hence a lot of oppositions are faced by the state government regarding the construction of the memorial. The Koli fishing community also planned a sea rally today to oppose the memorials construction. The fisherwomen formed a chain along the coast while 5,000 fishing boats hoisted black flags to protest. However the police crackdowns made it impossible for the protest to go ahead and actually work.

While a lot of efforts and money is being put into the construction of the gigantic sculpture of Shivaji Maharaj, we wonder if those 3,600 crore can be put into better use!

India is a developing country if we use this amount of money in needy things, it could generate miracles. This money can be used instead to fight poverty, malnutrition, child labour and also in the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’. All we can do is wait and expect for good to happen.