The installation of a 125-ft tall statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in Hyderabad, proposed by the Telangana government, is expected to be completed in 15 months. State Scheduled Castes Development Minister Koppula Eshwar, who inspected the statue works on Thursday, said the bronze statue of the architect of Indian Constitution would come up on 11.4 acres of land near Hussain Sagar lake in the city. The complex would house a museum, library, conference hall and other facilities, an official release quoted him as saying.
Seminars and skill development workshops would be held in the complex. The government has studied giant statues in countries like Singapore. Technical issues and issues related to finalisation of design are involved in the project, he said. As a result, there has been some delay in the progress of the project, he said. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is keen on early completion of the prestigious project. The minister gave directions to complete the project in 12 to 15 months, the release added.
It was in April 2016, that CM KCR and his colleagues held a Bhumi Puja (ground breaking ceremony) for the project and the deadline was set as April 14 in 2017. However, it got delayed. In September 2020, The Telangana government unveiled an artist’s impression of the 125-feet statue in the presence of IT Minister KT Rama Rao, SC Development Minister Koppula Eshwar, former Health Minister Eatala Rajender and Women and Child Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod.
Hyderabad's Hussain Sagar lake already hosts the world’s tallest monolithic statue of the Buddha which is 18 metres tall (or 58 feet). A cabinet sub committee led by former Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari initially tasked to carry out preliminary study of the project which was named as Ambedkar Smritivanam. After inviting global tenders for the same, a team of officials visited China to submit a report to the government on construction of massive statues.
With PTI inputs