Amid opposition by several parties to the proposed pen-shaped memorial for former chief minister M Karunanidhi, the Public Works Department (PWD) of Tamil Nadu government shared details of the project planned to be built in the sea off the Marina Beach coast in Chennai. The pen statue is envisaged as a tribute to Karunanidhi for his contributions to Tamil literature. The statue will be a whopping 137 feet tall and proposed to be built 360 meters from the shoreline in the sea at an estimated cost of Rs 81 crore. There will be a pedestrian bridge connecting the memorial with the shoreline. According to PWD officials, the project is planned in three parts. The first part will involve construction of a 220-meter-long, 6-meter-high concrete bridge from Karunanidhi memorial to the site of proposed statue. The second part will be boat transport from the Marina beach to the statue. In the third part, the pen memorial will be erected 360 meters in the sea from the end of the iron bridge. Concrete piers will be erected at 15-meter intervals for the bridge leading to the memorial. As the piers are set up with good spacing, there is no disturbance to the fishing boat traffic. Disaster-resilient construction The pen memorial will be 30 meters high and 3 meters in diameter and will be built on an area of 8000 square meters. The bridge approaching the monument is to be constructed 9 meters wide and 6 meters above the sea surface and sand surface. The state government officials during the public hearing said that 'the Coastal Regulatory Commission clearance has been applied for this project. Environmental impact report, environmental management plan, risk assessment and disaster management plan have been submitted.' They added, “Considering the disasters that may occur in the area, the construction will be carried out according to appropriate technology to withstand them." Safety aspects The officials said the government is implementing various measures considering the safety of the tourists and public visiting the monument. Devices will be installed to predict tsunamis, earthquakes, and storms and people are denied entry based on the ‘alert.’ If anyone is in such danger, trained rescuers will be there to rescue people from the premises. Electric vehicles and rescue boats will be used during the rescue. To facilitate the rescue, no more than 300 people will be allowed in at a time. The waste generated during construction will be disposed of in such a way that it does not harm the environment. Research on marine sedimentation and soil storage is being carried out by the National Oceanographic Research Centre. Additional traffic, people movement and road connectivity due to the monument are also being studied. The officials claimed that the pen monument is modeled on the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue in Mumbai. The project envisages a 210-meter-tall statue of the Maratha warrior king on a small rocky island located 3.5 km off the Mumbai coast with an estimated expenditure of Rs 3,600 crore. The DMK government recently got clearance from the Union Environment Ministry to construct the 42m-tall 'pen memorial' in the sea. However, the Environment Ministry asked the Stalin government to look for alternative locations and conduct public hearings with the participation of the fishermen community. Meanwhile, several fishermen outfits have criticised the project claiming that it will affect fishing and lead to coastal erosion. They suggested building the memorial on land, rather than the sea.
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