Work is in progress for installation of 125 feet tall steel and bronze statue of Dr. Ambedkar in Hyderabad on January 27, 2023. , Photo credits: G. Ramakrishna
Between Prasad Multiplex and Hussainsagar Lake, a 150-feet tall crane boom swings and lifts the metal pieces from the floor to the sky. Huge pieces of metal, some weighing five tons to the heaviest weighing 25 tons, are carried into position.
Result: The edges of BR Ambedkar’s suit can be seen by motorists traveling on the Necklace Road. “The statue will be ready by the end of February and will be inaugurated on April 14, the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar,” says Jitendra Singh, project officer of the engineering team that built the structure.
It is not just the weight, but the scale of the pieces some as large as five meters that shows the challenge of the project. Sixty per cent work has been completed. It is like a giant puzzle in which the pieces have to be assembled in time. It becomes easier when you break it into pieces,” says Mr. Singh as he supervises the plasma cutting of the statue’s steel interior.
Project is the schedule of ongoing work inside the office. On one side is a chart of progress mapped out every three days for the inner core and outer skin. There is also marked progress on the ground regarding casting, material dispatch, alignment and welding. It’s an aggressive timeline with a deadline for finalizing the stainless steel armature and bronze frame on February 28, 2023.
At the base of the building is a red sandstone cladding that is now part of the New Secretariat Building which is familiar to many Raj era structures in New Delhi that line Rajpath. The government’s initial plan was to build an aquarium, an entertainment venue and a museum dedicated to the life and times of Dr. Ambedkar in the space below the statue. Seeing the statue becoming a landmark, a place has been marked for selfie.
Initial plans for a large park around the base of the statue have been changed as part of the land is being used to build VIP stands for the planned Formula-E race in the area.
The scaled drawing of the statue shows a familiar image of the architect of the Indian Constitution holding it in his left hand with his right finger raised in the air. According to academics, the particular design became popular after Dr. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990. Incidentally, Design Associates, which is executing the project in Hyderabad, is also building a 450-feet tall statue of Ambedkar in Mumbai. in the same currency.