The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue has been identified as a "permissible activity" and sources in the Mantralaya have indicated that, since it is a project that is environmentally sensitive, it will cost approximately Rs 2,000 crore to ensure that it does not cause any environmental damage.
Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar has given the seal of approval and said that the revised proposal of the Maharashtra government has been cleared by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the road to construct the statue in the Arabian Sea is now free of any hurdles.
The proposal that had been put up by the state PWD included a 190-feet statue that was to be erected on a rocky outcrop 1.5km from Raj Bhavan and the total area would be 15.96 hectares.
As per the propose plan there would be three levels of pedestal with museums, art galleries and recreation centers and, on the mainland, there would be two jetties to ferry passengers and commodities. One of these would be the existing one at the Gateway of India and a second jetty was proposed to be built at Nariman Point to ferry tourists and visitors. The Vivekananda Rock Memorial attracts 8000 to 10000 tourists daily and it is expected that the landmark in Mumbai would see at least 3000 footfalls every day.
In order to pay attention to the environment, there would be a sewage treatment plant and desalination plant along with wind mills, solar shelters, solar light poles, tidal turbines etc.
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