Mumbai, (The Hindu):Work on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in the Arabian Sea is set to begin in less than two months, with the State government planning to issue work orders for the construction on Thursday.

The Public Works Department (PWD) has already awarded the contract to Larsen & Toubro for Rs 2,500 crore, while also amending it to add another Rs 63 crore on account of the increase in the height of the memorial and Rs 18 crore to put in place a comprehensive security plan prepared by the Mumbai Police.

Hiring sub-contractors

Actual work will begin in less than 45 days once the work orders are issued, government officials said.

“We have already held some meetings with people interested in sub-contracting small works such as supplying raw material and reclamation. The order to begin actual work will be issued on August 23,” said a senior member of the technical high power committee in charge of monitoring the progress of the project.

Incorporating changes

Senior officials said the work orders will be in line with the recent changes made to the height of the statue, increasing it by two metres to touch the 212 metre-mark and make it the tallest statue in the world.

The changes were made earlier this year by the high power committee headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, 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 Maharashtra government to make its own change.

Security arrangements

The work orders for the security proposal added to the final contract will be issued separately later.

According to the security proposal submitted to the 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.