The incident has caused an acute embarrassment to the Mahayuti government ahead of the assembly polls, drawn intense criticism from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and sparked protests.
The high-level meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Iqbal Singh Chahal, Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla, Additional Chief Secretary (Public Works) Manisha Mhaiskar and Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Asim Gupta, among others. Vice-Admiral Ajay Kochar and Rear Admiral Manish Chadha were also present.
Earlier in the day, another Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar apologised to the people of the state for the collapse of the statue of Shivaji Maharaj, a revered figure in Maharashtra, and vowed to punish the guilty.
The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder installed at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg district’s Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
