Faisal Fareed | Lucknow
Daijiworld Media Network

Lucknow, Jan 10: Ending suspense, district administration started draping the statues of elephant and Chief Minister (CM) Mayawati at the parks and memorials across Lucknow on Tuesday. The exercise as per election commission directives has to be completed by Wednesday.

Each elephant needs to be covered with tarpaulin of 1200 square feet. Sweepers of memorial maintenance committee were roped in to expedite the task. . In Lucknow, the authorities have to do the needful for 10 statues of the chief minister and nearly 100 stone elephants installed in 10 memorials and parks.

Things are turning out to be an elephantine task and an expensive one at that for the authorities in Lucknow. The nearly 20 feet elephant statues were being covered by yellow tarpaulin. Those of chief minister of almost the same height were being hidden inside a wooden box supported on iron railings. However a few elephant statues outside the parks were also covered with iron railings on which a cloth was draped.

Each elephant is gobbling Rs 1500-2000 to drape it. Mayawati statues would cost phenomenally higher (Rs 15000-20000) because they have to be covered in huge boxes around them.  After many efforts they stitched three four pieces of the tarpaulin and draped the structures.