Public Works Department officials in Kolkata removed a 70-foot [1] statue of Lionel Messi from the Lake Town area on June 3, 2024 [3].
The removal of the monument highlights the tension between ambitious public art projects and the structural requirements needed to withstand local weather conditions. Because the statue was located in a high-traffic residential area, any structural failure posed a significant risk to public safety.
Officials dismantled the statue using a crane after residents reported that the structure was swaying dangerously during strong winds [1, 2]. The monument had been standing for five months [2] before the safety concerns prompted the intervention.
"The statue was swaying dangerously during strong winds, so we had to take it down for public safety," a Public Works Department official said [3].
The PWD oversaw the operation to ensure the 70-foot [1] structure did not collapse onto nearby buildings or pedestrians. The decision followed a series of reports regarding the stability of the monument during periods of high wind velocity.
Following the removal, the statue was transported to a secure facility. A PWD spokesperson said, "The monument will remain in the PWD's custody until a decision is made about its future location" [1].
Local authorities have not yet announced if the statue will be reinforced and reinstalled, or if it will be moved to a different site. The removal process focused on mitigating the immediate hazard presented by the swaying structure in the Lake Town neighborhood [1, 2].
“The statue was swaying dangerously during strong winds, so we had to take it down for public safety.”
The dismantling of the Messi statue underscores the engineering challenges of constructing oversized monuments in urban environments prone to volatile weather. By removing the structure only five months after its unveiling, city officials are prioritizing risk management over the symbolic value of the landmark, potentially signaling stricter structural audits for future public installations in West Bengal.
