HYDERABAD: The state government's plan of installing a bronze statue of Adivasi leader Komaram Bheem at Tank Bund has been caught in bureaucratic bottlenecks. While the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials say they have given permission to the AP State Cultural Council to install the statue, the latter say they have been waiting for formal orders from the GHMC.
"We have asked the GHMC to allot a space on Tank Bund to install a 9feet statue of Komaram Bheem. But we have not got any positive response so far," said V Harshavardhan, APSCC director. He added, "We gave a contract for making the statue for Rs 6.5 lakh in January 2011 and we asked the Uppalbased sculptor HS Chandrakanth to make the statue in four months. His work is complete and if we get permission from the civic body, the statue may be installed and unveiled in February." The sculptor HS Chandrakanth said the bronze statue will be the second statue of Komaram Bheem after a cement statue in Adilabad. However, GHMC additional commissioner (Planning) K Dhananjaya Reddy said, "We have given permission to the cultural council to install the statue on the left of Rani Rudrama Devi's statue at Tank Bund."
The government had entrusted the work to install Komaram Bheem's statue in 2009 after many representations by Adivasi leaders to install the freedom fighter's statue. Many tribal leaders have threatened to launch agitations, if the statue was not installed.