Kolkata Tears Down Messi's 10-Metre Statue After Six Months Over Safety Fears

The Kolkata municipal corporation dismantled a 10-metre bronze statue of Lionel Messi on Monday after engineers flagged structural instability. Pedestrians near the Maidan grounds had complained for weeks about the monument's swaying base during wind and rain.

The statue comes down

Workers arrived at dawn with cranes and cutting equipment. By mid-morning, the Argentine football star's likeness lay in three pieces on the ground. City officials said the monument was erected in January without the required soil testing.

The civic body hired a private engineering firm last week to assess the structure. Their report, seen by local media, stated the foundation could fail within months during monsoon season.

Safety concerns behind the removal

The statue's 3.5-metre concrete base showed cracks extending through the lower third of the plinth. Engineers found no reinforcement bar connecting the foundation to surrounding ground. A structural audit conducted on Thursday confirmed the structure posed "unacceptable risk to public safety."

Heavy rainfall last month — Kolkata received 340 millimetres in a single week — exposed how water had pooled around the base, softening the soil beneath.

What officials said

Kolkata's Mayor Firhad Hakim confirmed the decision in a statement, acknowledging the statue's popularity but prioritising public safety. The municipal corporation faces questions about how the monument received approval without a geotechnical survey.

A spokesperson for the civic body told reporters the statue builder failed to submit required technical documents. The corporation is now conducting an internal review.

Community reaction in Kolkata

Football fans in the city expressed disappointment. The Kolkata Messi Fan Club, which helped organise the statue's unveiling ceremony, called the removal "a setback for the Argentine community in Bengal."

Local resident Priya Sharma, who walks past the Maidan grounds daily, said she noticed the monument leaning in August. "I stopped letting my children stand near it," she said. "Something felt wrong."

Others defended the statue's installation. Business owner Rajesh Ghosh argued the city should have fixed the foundation rather than demolish the monument entirely. "Six months of pride, gone in four hours," he said.

What comes next for Messi fans

No decision has been made about a replacement statue. The municipal corporation said it would consider rebuilding once proper engineering studies are completed. A city spokesperson told reporters a new monument could take eight to twelve months to plan and install.

The Argentine consulate in Kolkata released a brief statement expressing understanding for the safety decision while hoping the city would honour Messi again in future.

Why this matters for Kolkata's public spaces

The incident has revived scrutiny of how Kolkata approves public monuments. The city's heritage committee only reviews statues older than 50 years, leaving modern installations without central oversight.

Civic activists argue Kolkata needs stronger protocols before approving large structures in high-traffic areas. "A statue that falls on a pedestrian is not just an engineering failure — it is a failure of governance," said urban planning researcher Dr Ananya Roy of Jadavpur University.

Watch this space

The municipal corporation's internal review is expected to conclude within 30 days. That report will determine whether any officials face disciplinary action and what protocols change going forward. For now, the pieces of Messi's likeness sit in a municipal yard in Howrah, waiting.