Hyderabad, June 25: Vijayawada-based Sri Sai Baba Mega Shilpa Shala will make and reinstall the 12 statues which were vandalised by Telangana activists during the Million March on Tank Bund.
The 12 statues of Telugu icons – Sri Krishnadevaraya, Yerrapragada, Annamacharya, Siddendra Yogi, Brahmanaidu, Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu, Mutnuri Krishna Rao, Kandukuri Veereshalingam, Tripuraneni Ramswamy Choudary, Ballari Raghava, Sir Arthur Cotton and Gurajada Appa Rao – were damaged by the agitators on March 10 during the protest march. Except Bellari Raghava’s statue, all the other vandalised statues were dumped in the Hussainsagar.In the wake of outcry by poets, literary figures and civil organisations, the state government had decided to re-install the statues at their designated pedestals.
Following the decision, the department of culture invited applications from sculptors. Responding to the notification, 10 sculptors sent in their applications. “Of them, we finalised Sri Sai Baba Mega Shilpa Shala, Vijayawada, who quoted the lowest with Rs 54 lakh,” department of culture director M Kantha Rao told.
“According to the agreement, the sculptor, B Shiva Vara Prasad, has to make the statues and install them on the designated pedestals on Tank Bund within three months,” he added.
Earlier, 32 statues, about nine feet tall and weighing about 450 kgs each, were installed by the then chief minister N T Rama Rao about 20 years ago.
Before installation, a government-appointed committee would examine the quality, face and shape of each statue. “In case, the committee is not satisfied with any statue, the sculptor has to redo it,” the director clarified.
The sculptor had made a 24-feet statue of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and installed it at Pavuralagutta. The government had unveiled the statue on the first death anniversary of the former chief minister on September 2, 2010.
When contacted, Shiva Vara Prasad said, “I will make the statues based on images of the personalities. I will complete the task within two-and-half months. Except Yerrapragada’s statue, the remaining statues are in standing position.”
-Agencies