Shivaji memorial should be on land, Maratha outfit demands

The Maratha Seva Sangh (MSS) has demanded that the planned memorial of warrior king Shivaji should be built on land and not in the sea. The Maharashtra government is building a memorial of the 17th century king off the Mumbai coast. It will have high cost, said Purushottam Khedekar, who heads the MSS, a Maratha community outfit, on Tuesday.

"If constructed in the sea, it will increase both construction and maintenance cost. The Statue of Liberty in the United States, which is also in the sea, has to be closed for three to four months for maintenance," he said.

"If the memorial is constructed on land, it will cut the cost of the project by half," he said, adding that he would meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and put forth the demand. The Shivaji memorial is estimated to cost over Rs 3,000 crore.