40-Ft Tall Statue Dedicated To Hockey Players Collapses In Rourkela 5 Months After Installation

Rourkela: Barely five months after its installation, a giant hockey player’s statue adjacent to the airport in Odisha’s Rourkela collapsed and fell on the ground on Sunday.

The 40-ft tall statue, dedicated to hockey players, fell under the impact of a brief thunderstorm in the steel city, sources said. It had been unveiled ahead of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.

Locals said that the incident has exposed the shoddy work done by authorities during the Hockey World Cup championship. The statue could not even stand for six months, they said.

The statue was installed adjacent to Rourkela airport and world’s largest Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in the first week of January this year ahead of FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

Some portions of the statue had been broken due to the gusty wind and the entire structure fell on the ground.

As per reports, the Rourkela Smart City had spent Rs 30.68 lakh on construction of the statue, which was built by a Bhubaneswar-based firm just in three months. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had reportedly unveiled the statue before the Hockey World Cup.