Aurangabad, Jan 23:
After a long wait, the equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will finally arrive in the city at midnight on Sunday. Municipal and police administration completed the preparations. It is being taken care that there will be no crowd of Shivpremis and no decision has been taken as to when the statue will be placed on the pedestal.
For the last two years, work has been going on to increase the height of the pedestal for the statue of Shivaji Maharaj in Kranti Chowk. The work of making a new statue in Pune was also started. The statue was placed in a large trailer on Friday and left for Aurangabad. The trailer stopped in Nevasa on Saturday night and at a petrol pump at Waluj on Sunday morning. The statue will be brought in the city at midnight considering the traffic during the day. Traffic in the Kranti Chowk area will be completely closed while bringing the statue. Large cranes have been called in to unload the statue from the trailer. The length of the statue is more than 21 feet. The rest of the work of the statue will be completed by the artists on the site. The statue will be placed on the pedestal thereafter. Municipal officials also said that it is not certain how long it will take for the process.
Shiv Srishti at Kranti Chowk
The construction work of a 31 feet high pedestal was completed. Murals are also being installed in the area soon. Shiv Jayanti will be celebrated on February 19. Before that all the works will be completed by the municipal corporation. Fund of Rs 2.50 crore was spent for the pedestal and Rs 1 crore was spent for the statue.