Guwahati, Aug. 9: The Kamrup (metro) administration today said the decision to replace the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Mandap was only a proposal and work will start after taking the public's views.

"In the meeting held on Monday, we just made a proposal to reconstruct the statue. It does not mean that we will destroy the older one. All work will happen after getting views from the public," Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu told The Telegraph.

The administration had proposed to renovate Gandhi Mandap under the smart city project. The deputy commissioner added that renovation or replacement was not under the smart project and was totally under the district administration.

The meeting was attended by state minister of culture Naba Doley and local MLA Siddhartha Bhattacharya.

The proposal to replace the statue, which is reportedly damaged, has faced huge criticism from the artist fraternity in the state.

"We strongly oppose the decision of the district administration to replace the statue. It is a work by eminent artist Ramkinkar Baij. According to my knowledge this statue was sculpted during the tenure of former chief minister Bishnu Ram Medhi. We will take all action to save the sculpture," artist Noni Borpujari said. The Centre had planned to set up a museum of the artwork of Ramkinkar Baij, he added.