India plans huge 'liberty' statue

by amyjudd | June 3, 2008 at 04:10 pm | 184 views | 1 comment

I just learned the other day, (through a very bad movie, whose title I won't tell you), that there are actually two Statues of Liberty in the world - one in New York and one in Paris.
Well, now there may be one off the Mumbai coast as well. The government of the state of Maharashtra in India, has declared that they plan to build their own lady, or man, of liberty to welcome visitors to their land.

The statue will be of the Maratha warrior king Shivaji, considered a hero in Maharashtra for his defiance of Mughal and British forces.

The statue will be built on a man-made island, which will include a library, a museum and an amphitheatre.

Critics say the project is too expensive at more than $4.5m.

They say that the government of the western Indian state faces more pressing problems, such as a food, water and power crisis in addition to a high suicide level among farmers.

Vishal Dhage, a state government official, said the statue would be about the same height as the Statue of Liberty - which, with plinth included, stands at 305ft (92.69m).

Mr Dhage said the state had been planning the statue for more than three years and had been working on different short-listed sites.

A state-government-appointed committee selected the off-shore site near Marine Drive, which is also known as the Queen's Necklace because of its line of street lights.

Officials say technical issues surrounding the building of the island have still to be worked out.

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azzayindia

at 02:04 on June 5th, 2008

good stuff:

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

well elections are round the corner it seems.Moreover with the North Indian Marathi clashes in Mumbai,Which Liberty is government talking about.It is just a way to earn money through corrupt means.I wonder how much it should cost.

The government should first liberate the thousands from the Dharavi slums then only the statue will be meaningful.