New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue built in Gujarat, to the country on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on Oct. 31 (31.10.1875 – 15.12.1950).
It may be recalled here that iron was collected from all over the country for the construction of the 182-meters-tall Statue of Unity, a tribute to the Iron Man of India, which saw contributions from every village in its making.
This ‘Statue of Unity’ has been built in a record 42 months’ time by the engineering and infrastructure major L&T on river Narmada in South Gujarat. The Rs. 3,000 crore project is funded for the most part by the Gujarat government, with minor contributions from the Centre and Central PSUs. The Statue of Unity, which is twice the size of the Statue of Liberty, has been built in a remote corner of Gujarat as a flagship project of Modi, who is to open it tomorrow. The statue is made up of 1,700 tonnes of bronze, 1,850 tonnes of bronze cladding, 70,000 metric tonnes of cement and 24,500 metric tonnes of steel.
Two high speed elevators inside can take tourists up to the statue’s chest from where around 200 visitors can view the Narmada River and Sardar Sarovar Dam over it.
Standing tall at Sadhu Bet Island on the Narmada River in Gujarat, the Statue of Unity is designed to withstand winds, vibrations and earthquake. As many as 3,400 workers and 250 engineers worked round-the-clock for 42 months to make the dream project of PM Modi a reality.
It is said that Surya Kiran of the IAF will perform aerobatics in the sky over Patel’s statue while spreading the colours of Tricolour in the sky. At the same time, a team of Jaguar fighter aircraft will fly over the statue and a team of MI-17 choppers will shower rose petals. Also, folk dance performances from Punjab, Assam, Mizoram and Gujarat have been planned when PM Modi will dedicate the 182-metre tall statue at Kevadia Colony to the country.
The Prime Minister will reach Ahmedabad today evening and stay overnight at Raj Bhavan. He will leave for Kevadia Colony in a special chopper tomorrow morning. The PM is expected to return to Delhi immediately after the event. Reports said that PM Modi will be welcomed by the bands of the Armed Forces, Gujarat Police, SRP, CRPF and BSF, and cultural troupes from 29 States and two Union Territories. He is also likely to address a public gathering.
Protest: Meanwhile, the headmen of 22 villages situated near the Sardar Sarovar Dam yesterday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the villagers would not welcome him at the inauguration of the Statue, dubbed an ‘engineering marvel’ by makers Larsen & Toubro. Local tribal leaders have also announced a boycott of the function citing destruction of natural resources due to the Memorial.
Another Selfie spot!
Selfie maine le liya, Selfie maine le liya!
I wholeheartedly support Sardar Patel, without him India would not have been one nation. But this statue thing is uncalled for. They could have built a smaller statue and a museum depicting his contribution, set up a organization in his name for the betterment of society. By inaugurating this huge statue, BJP govt is making a mockery of extravagant spending of Dubai, or Sultan of Brunei.. Now congressmen will build a taller statue of Nehru, Indira and Rajiv and start the trend. In a few years, we will have Devegowda, Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah, Yeddiyurappa statues in Karnataka whose height competes with each other.
‘Statue of Unity’ bluntly copied from ‘Statue of Liberty’.
Cant we come up with anything original at all?
MODI BUILT THE STATUE OF THE SARDAR SPENDING MONEY, BUT SONIA TOOK A REAL SARDAR AND MDE HIM THE STATUE AND MADE HER FAMILY A LOT OF MONEY, NOW TELL ME WHO IS SMART,
Very true.It is not for nothing that Sonia Gandhi hails from the family of power hungry and power conscious Jawaharlal Nehru who did everything to marginalise Sardar Patel and deprive him from having access to the topmost positions of political power in free India.Ironically he is said to have stoutly shot down the widespread appeals to instal Sardar Patel’s statue after his demise in a brazen response saying that wells could be dug in his name instead as he was a ‘farmer’.
This statue resembles the ancient Greek statue of Helios in Rhodes: “Colossus of Rhodes” . Without looking back in history, the money could have been spent better in many areas. The next round will be for the Tamil Nadu to erect yet taller statues for their leaders , starting with Annadurai, who all face the sea in Chennai. Madness, when the country has over 400 million people below the UN-defined poverty threshold, and has not solved the public health issues , of which there are many, starting from providing clean drinking water for all.
Yes money could be well spent instead of a statue! But we did not build this for 65 years! So, why did not we spend it so far? The truth is, if we don’t like something we always make such idiotic remarks! Why is hunger, poverty even after our grand 5 year plans? The truth is, if not statue , money would have ended up in corrupt political leaders private assets!
*ಒಬ್ಬ ಲಾಯರ್ 46 ಜನ ಅಪರಾಧಿಗಳನ್ನು ಗಲ್ಲುಶಿಕ್ಷೆಯಿಂದ ಪಾರು ಮಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ವಾದ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ.*
ಆಗಲೇ ಆತನ ಸಹಾಯಕ ಬಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಚೀಟಿಯನ್ನು ಅವನ ಕೈಗೆ ತುರುಕಿದ. ಅದನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದ ಆ ನ್ಯಾಯವಾದಿ, ತನ್ನ ಜೇಬಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅದನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು, ವಾದವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರಿಸಿದ. ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಊಟದ ವೇಳೆಯಾಯಿತು, ಆಗ ಜಡ್ಜ್ ನ್ಯಾಯವಾದಿಯನ್ನು ಕರೆಸಿ, “ವಾದ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ ನಿಮಗೆ ಒಂದು ಸಂದೇಶ ಬಂದಿದ್ದು ನಾನು ನೋಡಿದೆ, ಏನದು?”, ಎಂದು ಕೇಳಿದರು. ಆಗ ಆ ಲಾಯರ್, *”ನನ್ನ ಹೆಂಡತಿ ಸತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಳೆ ಜಡ್ಜ್ ಸಾಹೇಬರೇ” ಎಂದರು.* ಆ ಜಡ್ಜ್ ಆಘಾತ ಮತ್ತು ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯದಿಂದ, “ಇಲ್ಲೇನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಿ ಮೊದಲು ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ”, ಎಂದರು. ಆಗ ಆ ಲಾಯರ್, ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯ ಜೀವವನ್ನು ಮರಳಿ ತರಲಾರೆ, ಆದರೆ ಈ 46 ಜನರ ಜೀವವನ್ನಾದರೂ ಉಳಿಸಬಹುದು ಅಲ್ಲವೇ? ಎಂದರು.
ಆ ಜಡ್ಜ್ ಒಬ್ಬ ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್ ಆಗಿದ್ದ, ಆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ 46 ಜನರನ್ನು ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಮಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಆದೇಶಿಸಿದ. ಅವರೆಲ್ಲ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯ ಹೋರಾಟಗಾರರಾಗಿದ್ದರು.
ಆ ಲಾಯರ್ ಮತ್ತೆ ಯಾರು ಅಲ್ಲ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರೆ, ಮಹಾನ್ ಚೇತನ *ಸರ್ದಾರ್ ವಲ್ಲಭಭಾಯಿ ಪಟೇಲ್* …
ಈಗ ಹೇಳಿ ಅವರಿಗಾಗಿ ಆ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯು ಕೂಡ ಸಣ್ಣದೇ ಅಲ್ಲವೇ?
ಇಂತಹ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದ ಹೃದಯದ ನೆನಪಿಗೆ ಮರಳಿ ತಂದ ಮೋದಿಯವರಿಗೆ ಶತಶತ ನಮನಗಳು.🙏🙏🙏🚩🚩🚩🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳