Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has dropped the proposal to shift the warrior horse statue from Master Canteen Square here following vehement protests by city denizens and the opposition parties.
Talking to the media on Tuesday, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Singh said that a decision to this effect has been taken at the official level.
“The statue will remain at its place and there will be a slight realignment in the design of the road,” he added.
On June 8, the Culture Department gave permission to Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) for shifting the statue, a prominent landmark in the city, to a place in front of Raj Bhawan for a multi-modal hub project at the Bhubaneswar railway station under the Smart Janpath Project.
Protesting against the decision, leaders and members of the Opposition Congress and BJP had staged demonstrations in front of the statue and threatened to intensify the agitation if any attempt was made to shift the statue to the Raj Bhawan Square.
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The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) had installed the sandstone sculpture by eminent sculptor Padma Vibhushan Raghunath Mohapatra at Master Canteen square in 1988.
