A strange sight greets anyone who enters Bailoor, a small town in Karkala taluk of Udupi district in coastal Karnataka: a statue on a hillock with no torso. This is a portion of what was meant to be an impressive statue of Parashurama, an avatar of Vishnu in the Hindu pantheon whom the devout believe carved out the western coast with his axe. On getting closer, one realises that what was meant to be a theme park around this statue and a great tourism draw is also in disarray.
The “half statue” that has been standing at the centre of the village for over eight months now is witness to much political slugfest and hopes of better livelihood of locals being dashed.
A 33-year-old woman who sells meat (who did not wish to be named) said her business had improved significantly after the theme park was inaugurated in January 2023, as several hotels started banking on improved tourism. But about nine months later, the situation changed drastically, forcing business establishments to shut down one by one. This was thanks to politics that started brewing around the statue.
Only the lower portion of the Parashurama statue in Karkala taluk of Udupi district stands now as the top half has been dismantled for reinforcement. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
“Everyone here was jumping with joy for Karkala was finally having a major tourism spot attracting many visitors. This led to the mushrooming of shops, hotels, and eateries in the vicinity, thus creating jobs for locals. My business shot up as new restaurants started buying fish and meat and they too had good business,” she says.
Locals estimate that more than 1,000 people were visiting the park, which had a 33-foot bronze statue of Parashurama, every day. The statue was standing atop a 450-foot-tall rock. People from many parts of the State used to visit the place which also has an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 1,000, a bhajan mandir, an art gallery, and a film studio.
In October 2023, however, the park was closed to the public and it has not opened since then, forcing the shopkeepers to leave the place.
Sunil Wagle, another local resident who had set up a restaurant near the park, said his hopes were high after the commencement of work on the park in 2022. He invested a good amount of money, and when the park opened, many people started visiting his restaurant for refreshments and to purchase water bottles and cold drinks.
Wagle said not just him, a few others also set up businesses. Several others had purchased land hoping that the prices would shoot up.
He is very upset with politicians for derailing what held promise for many. “Now we do not know when this project will restart, and people are not showing interest in re-establishing their businesses. The aspiration that locals would secure jobs because of tourism has also taken a hit.”
Before the project, an acre of land around the town would cost about ₹18 lakh to ₹20 lakh and many people purchased the land. The opening of the park, by the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, drove the land price up. The price of roadside parcels of land near the park increased to ₹50 lakh an acre. While some purchased for investment, a few built buildings to lease out or rent. “But the park was closed to repair the statue and the price crashed. Hotel owners and shopkeepers vacating the space also left a deep impact on the business prospects,” said Ramesh Kallotte, a daily wage labourer. During weekends, a lot of people used to visit the place and business was good, he said.
Design flaw, statue politics
The Parashurama Theme Park at Bailoor in Karkala taluk was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in January 2023. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
Warnings of some trouble were there even as the park was inaugurated in January 2023. The event was attended by BJP as well as Congress leaders. During the inauguration, the then Minister and BJP MLA for Karkala Sunil Kumar announced that although the park was opened, the statue needed a “fix” as the hand that was holding the axe did not have proper support and could break due to strong wind or lightning. The modification for the statue proposed was reinforcing the hand and joining a portion of it to the back of the head.
It is anyone’s guess why the statue was inaugurated in such a hurry without first fixing the faulty work. The Legislative Assembly elections were months away and the then BJP government wanted to take credit for the project.
For about nine months nothing happened, but in October 2023, the chairman of the government agency Nirmiti Kendra — the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi district — permitted the contract agency Krish Art World to repair the statue. The agency had sought permission for reinforcement work by dismantling the upper half portion of the statue. The park was closed to visitors as the work commenced.
What snowballed into a controversy was a piece of fibre that fell while the statue was being dismantled. Several local Congress leaders alleged that the statue was made of fibre and not bronze as was being claimed. Sunil Kumar, however, contended that “fibre patches” were used only to attach the pieces of bronze and that this was a standard practice. He said this was countered not just by him but also by officials of the Nirmiti Kendra. There was a problem with the statue but the public was not kept in the dark about it, he said.
He alleged that to score a political point, the Congress had set this narrative and had sought an investigation. “I welcome the probe as I do not have anything to hide. Every procedure was followed during the implementation of the project,” he said.
Sunil Kumar said the Congress was alleging that the BJP had let down a religious space. This, however, is not a religious space but a theme park, a tourism spot, he said.
Meanwhile, as the location is prone to extreme weather conditions, including lightning strikes, the contractor requested the Nirmiti Kendra for scientific reinforcement. After the kendra granted permission to dismantle the statue for reinforcement, the contractor removed the upper half of the structure.
But the kendra on December 21, 2023, served a show-cause notice to the company for non-completion of work. The company filed a writ petition in the High Court of Karnataka on April 10, 2024, seeking protection at the site citing a threat. In the petition, it was argued that they could not complete the work as there were extreme weather issues. The High Court disposed of the petition on April 22 as the Nirmiti Kendra and the company came to an agreement. The Nirmiti Kendra agreed to provide security, while the company said it would resume work.
The work could not be started then as the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections was in place, and subsequently, in May, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government ordered a probe into allegations of irregularities.
Corruption allegations
A view of the Parashurama Theme Park at Bailoor in Karkala taluk of Udupi district. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
Congress leader Muniyal Uday Kumar, while admitting that it is a good project for the town, alleged that Sunil Kumar was instrumental in the failure of the project. He said while the lower portion of the statue was made of bronze, the upper portion was made using fibre “to swindle money” that was released to build the statue.
He said the total cost of the statue was ₹2.4 crore but the government paid just ₹1 crore to the contractor. The contractor, therefore, executed substandard work, he alleged. Even in the theme park project, which has other infrastructure, there are irregularities and hence the government ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He said the BJP, which claims to be a pro-Hindutva party, has turned this religious space into a mess.
He said though action should have been taken against the wrongdoing by now, it did not happen as at the top level both the Congress and the BJP had “an unwritten understanding”.
He said for the inaugural event, the previous BJP government had spent a whopping ₹2 crore. The MLA wished to make this a major political event to galvanise voters, he claimed.
Set aside politics, say locals
But all that the locals now want is the completion of the project as this would become the “pride of Karkala”. Lokesh (name changed) said the project is suffering due to politics between the two major parties.
Lokesh, who runs a small business in Karkala, said when the roads were asphalted and the park was inaugurated, the people rejoiced. “There is not a single statue of this scale of Parashurama, who we believe created the land of coastal Karnataka. This spot would have attracted lakhs of people if the project was completed as envisaged. As this location is close to the highway, many people would visit,” he said.
People hope that the CID probe is completed soon and the statue as well as their hopes of a better livelihood takes shape again.
Published - June 14, 2024 07:36 am IST
