Work on applying a chemical on the 133-foot-tall Tiruvalluvar statue in the middle of the sea in Kanniyakumari is under progress at an estimated cost of ₹86 lakh, Tourism Minister Vellamandi N. Natarajan said here on Friday.
Inspecting the work to protect the statue from the salty air, the Minister said that regular maintenance was undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation since 2002 and the chemical coating (poly silicon) was applied once in four years as per the advice of the Department of Archaeology. The last coating was given in 2013.
The preliminary work on applying the chemical began on April 17. Application of the chemical would end before October 13, the Minister said. Later, he visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and enquired about the boat services of the Poompuhar Shipping Corporation from the shore to the rock.
He was accompanied by the Collector Sajjansingh R. Chavan and Rajya Sabha MP A. Vijayakumar.
