The state government has sought the help of Navy divers to retrieve 11 of the 12 bronze statues that were pulled down on Tank Bund and dumped into Hussainsagar by pro-Telangana activists during their ‘Million March’ last year, a top official said on Saturday.
The operation to retrieve the statues is set to be undertaken early next month, after the 12 damaged statues are reinstalled by this month-end.
“Retrieving the statues is a high-risk operation, and Indian Navy has highly skilled divers to undertake it. The Navy has agreed to provide the services of its divers for a price,” culture director R. Kavita Prasad told this newspaper on Saturday.
Dr Prasad said the Navy divers would hook the statues, which will then be pulled out with GHMC’s cranes. “Bronze statues are quite expensive but we want to take up the work to retrieve them once all the damaged statues are installed,” he added.
Asked about the cost of the operation, he said the divers would be paid a fixed amount per day, as decided by the Navy.