29 August,2024 08:32 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
A welcome arch erected by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) in Maharashtra's Thane district collapsed following which the police have filed an FIR against the contractor who executed the project, an official said on Thursday, reported the PTI.
The arch, put up at Chakki Naka in Kalyan (East) town, collapsed at around 11 am on August 27, the official with the Kolsewadi police station said. After the crash, KDMC officials lodged a police complaint against the contractor.
Based on the complaint, police registered an FIR (first information report) against the contractor on Wednesday under provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1995, he said.
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Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government has set up a technical committee comprising engineers, IIT experts and Navy officials to probe reasons behind the collapse of Shivaji Maharaj statue at Malvan in coastal Konkan, an official said.
A release issued by the Chief Minister's office after midnight said the government has also constituted a committee to build a ¿grand statute befitting the stature¿ of the warrior king.
The decision was taken by CM Eknath Shinde, who chaired a meeting with senior ministers, bureaucrats and Navy officials at his official residence Varsha in South Mumbai Wednesday night, the release said, according to the PTI.
An FIR has been registered against the contractor of the 35-foot statue which collapsed on Monday just eight months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4.
The FIR follows a complaint by the Public Works Department, which claims the statue's construction was of poor quality, and the nuts and bolts used in the structure were found to be rusted.
The 35-foot statue of the 17th-century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The state government has maintained that the structure was designed and built by the Navy and ordered a probe into the crash episode.
However, the incident has triggered a political storm in Maharashtra, with the opposition accusing the state government of corruption and insulting the Maratha warrior king.
(with PTI inputs)
