Bhopal, July 9 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday said the 108-foot-tall ‘Statue of Oneness’ dedicated to Adi Shankaracharya at Omkareshwar is structurally safe and built as per international engineering standards.

The clarification comes amid a controversy after the Opposition Congress alleged that cracks had appeared in the statue and demanded an independent technical inspection.

In a statement, chief engineer and project director of ‘Ekatma Dham’ Rajiv Srivastava said the multi-metal statue, installed in 2023, is “completely safe, robust and structurally strong”.

He said the project was executed by the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation through Larsen & Toubro (L&T), while JTQ carried out the casting work. Singapore-based Meinhardt was the project management consultant and C.P. Kukreja Associates was the design consultant.

Srivastava said IIT Madras and IIT Delhi provided technical support for the project. IIT Madras conducted seismic studies, while IIT Delhi assessed the statue’s design life at more than 500 years.

“The statue has been designed and constructed following the highest engineering standards. All technical studies have confirmed its structural stability,” he said.

According to the government, the monument was designed to meet safety standards applicable to Seismic Zone-IV, even though Omkareshwar falls under Seismic Zone-III. A wind tunnel study by Germany-based Werner Sobek AG also found the structure capable of withstanding wind speeds of up to 169 kmph.

The government said a structural analysis using ETABS software showed that the monument’s stress ratio was well within the permissible limit, indicating a high level of safety.

Srivastava said the pedestal and the main structural framework of the statue remain firmly anchored and there is no concern regarding its stability.

The statement assumes significance as the Congress recently alleged that cracks had developed in the statue and questioned the quality of its construction.

The party has sought an independent technical audit, while the BJP government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the monument is safe and meets all prescribed engineering standards.

–IANS

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