Crossroad at Dandia Bazaar to be widened for Vad sculpture

VADODARA: In February Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) decided to shift the famous 'Vad' sculpture from Fatehgunj crossroads to Dandia Bazaar crossroads. However, the fate of the sculpture created by eminent artist Nagji Patel is still hanging as the police department raised concerns about having a big traffic island at the busy crossroads that would lead to traffic snarls.
Municipal commissioner Manish Bharadwaj said that the relocation of the sculpture got delayed due to concerns of traffic flow at Dandia Bazaar crossroads. "We recently had a meeting with the police officials to work out a solution. The police want the approach roads to be broadened if a traffic island has to be built at Dandia Bazaar crossroads. We have agreed to widen the roads," Bharadwaj told TOI.
He added that the size of the traffic island will also be reduced. "We will soon begin the process of clearing the land around the crossroads. On northern side we will get additional space along the Technical School and the land next to Maharani Shantadevi Hospital. The process of shifting the sculpture may begin within a month," Bharadwaj said.
The decision to relocate the sculpture that was installed at Fatehgunj in 1991 was taken as a flyover is coming up in the area. The artist community had raised concern over the public artworks suffering due to development projects. Police commissioner E Radhakrishna said that the police didn't have any objection to the sculpture being installed at Dandia Bazaar crossroads.
"We were concerned about the vehicle flow. The civic body has agreed to widen roads before installing the sculpture there, so we have given a go-ahead to the relocation," Radhakrishna said.