White marble sculpture at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh

A statue of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa carved out of white marble stone will come up at Ramakrishnanagar Circle. It will be a life-size statue of the 19th century Saint and will be carved at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh. The Circle is located at the intersection of Vishwa Manava Double Road and Chaduranaga Road.

The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had proposed to install the statue and had given its approval in 2014-15. The Deputy Commissioner gave a green signal to the proposal on July 11, 2016 and the project got an approval from the technical committee on   July 14, 2016.

At a MUDA Board Meeting held Oct. 1, 2015, the MUDA had decided to install the statue as the civic body had completed the construction of a circle at I-Block, which is modelled after K.R. Circle. It was decided that the statue will depict the popular lotus posture as the monk is normally depicted. The MUDA had allotted Rs. 3.71 crore for the Ramakrishnanagar Circle beautification project.

Later, the MUDA had called for a tender (in July 2016) and only one person, who was not technically competent, had applied for the tender, forcing MUDA to call for a re-tender in November 2016 where only three tenders were received. Among them, two were disqualified and the one person remaining had quoted 2 percent lesser than the tender amount.

Following this, the Deputy Commissioner, on January this year, returning the tender documents to MUDA, had asked the MUDA if Government approval was obtained for the installation of the statue.

Replying to the DC’s letter, MUDA wrote back to the DC on Feb. 14 for tender approval. MUDA officials said that the work order for the tender will be approved after the DC gives permission.

The area around the Ramakrishnanagar Circle will be developed as a public space with seating arrangements, landscaped gardens with fountains and illumination.

It may be recalled, there were speculations earlier that the statue may not be installed as the Supreme Court had ordered the civic bodies not to install statues at random in public places. This had also led to a spate of protests in the locality.