Amazing facts about the Statue of Unity that every Indian should know

As we saw in the news headlines about the most popular project of the NDA government: the statue of unity which is the tallest statue of the world. And most noteworthy this statue is made to give a tribute to the first home minister of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This is because the whole credit to unite India to a 'union of States' goes to this eminent personality. He did the work of uniting the 562 princely states to build one great Republic of India. So, here are some facts about the mega project that you all should know.

• Firstly, it is the world's tallest statue with a height of 182 metres. And our Prime Minister unveiled it on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary.
• Secondly, it is almost twice as high as the Statue of Liberty in New York, which is 93 metres.
• It is located on a river island facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on river Narmada in Kevadiya colony which is 100 kilometres southeast of the city of Vadodara.
• As the chief minister of Gujarat for 10 years, Narendra Modi first announced the project in 2010.
• Over 3,000 workers, including 300 engineers from Larsen & Toubro (L&T), built the statue within three-and-a-half years.

• This is interesting to note that about 135 metric tonnes of scrap iron was collected by farmers (waste farming material) to lay the foundation of the statue.
• This was termed as 'statue of unity movement'.
• Also, the government organised marathons entitled 'run for unity' in places such as Surat to support the project.
• The statue comprises of five zones of which only three are accessible to the public. Which comprises of museum, exhibition area and gardens.
• The fourth zone is the maintenance area where is the final zone comprises the head and shoulders of the statue.
• And besides that, over 128,000 tourists visited it in 11 days since the government opened it to the public on November 1, 2018.
• The statue uses for high speed lifts. Each lift can carry 26 people to the top in just above 30 seconds.

So this is what makes the statue unique in terms of historical, national and spiritual values. And certainly it is a symbol of unity for every Indian.

JAI HIND