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Statue of Unity

Coordinates: 21°50′16″N 73°43′08″E / 21.83778°N 73.71889°E / 21.83778; 73.71889
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Statue of Unity
एकता की प्रतिमा
File:StatueofUnity.png
An artists impression of the statue
Map
21°50′16″N 73°43′08″E / 21.83778°N 73.71889°E / 21.83778; 73.71889
LocationSadhu bet, Near Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gujarat, India
DesignerLarsen and Toubro
TypeStatue
MaterialSteel framing, reinforced cement concrete, bronze coating[1]
Height
  • statue: 182 metres (597 ft)
  • including base: 240 metres (790 ft)
[1]
Beginning date31 October 2014
Dedicated toSardar Patel
www.statueofunity.in

The Statue of Unity is a planned 182 metres (597 ft) monument of Vallabhbhai Patel [2]that will be created directly facing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on the river island called Sadhu Bet near Vadodara in Gujarat. This statue is planned to be spread over 20000 square meters of project area. It will also be surrounded with a man-made lake spread across 12 km of area.[3] It would be the world's tallest statue.[4] Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET), a special purpose vehicle was established by the Gujarat government and the outreach programme across India was carried out starting December 2013.[5]

Initially the total cost of the project was estimated to be about ₹2,063 crore (US$250 million) by the government. Later Larsen and Toubro bagged the contract in October 2014 for its lowest bid of ₹2,989 crore (US$360 million) for the design, construction and maintenance. The construction was started on 31st October 2014.[6][7]

Outreach

Patel is considered as one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India
Run for Unity held at Vadodara

The project was first announced on October 7, 2010.[8] Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET), a special purpose vehicle was established by the Gujarat government for construction of the statue.[5] The iron needed for the statue and other structures was to be collected from farmers of villages all around India in a form of donation of their used farming instruments.[9] SVPRET set up 36 offices across India to collect these iron instruments[5] wherein over 500,000 Indian farmers are expected to donate.[10] The drive was named the 'Statue of Unity movement'.[11][12] There was to be three-month-long nationwide campaign to collect iron pieces from six lakh villages to build the statue.[12] During this period, over 5000 metric tonnes of iron were intended to be collected[13] Although it was initially announced that the iron collected will be used for the main statue, it later emerged that the collected iron will not be used in construction of the actual statue and will instead be used for some other part of the project.[14]

The Statue of Unity Movement will also organize a Suraaj ( good governance in Hindi) petition wherein people can write about their ideas for the good governance. The Suraaj Petition is expected to be signed by an estimated 20 million people, which will make it the world's largest petition signed.[11] A marathon entitled Run For Unity was held on December 15, 2013 in several places throughout India.[15] The marathon had a large turnout and sign-ups before the event reported thousands of registrations.[11][16][17][18]

Project

The monument statue of Vallabhbhai Patel will be constructed facing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on the river island called Sadhu Bet. The total height of the statue from its base will be 240 metre consisting base level of 58 metre and statue of 182 metre. It will be constructed with steel framing, reinforced cement concrete and bronze coating.[1] The statue will need 75000 cubic metres of concrete, 5700 metric tonne steel structure, 18500 tonne reinforced steel rods, 22500 tonne bronze sheets for construction.[7] In the first phase, a bridge connecting the memorial to the main land, a memorial, visitor centre buildings, a memorial garden, a hotel, a convention centre, an amusement park, research centres and institutes will also be constructed.[4]

Finance

The monument will be built on a PPP model, with most of the money raised by private contribution.[19] The Government of Gujarat has allotted Rs 100 crore for the project in the budget for 2012-13[20] and Rs 500 crore in 2014-15.[21] In the 2014-15 Union Budget announced on 10 July 2014, ₹2 billion (US$24 million) have been allocated for the construction of the statue.[22][23][24]

Construction

A consortium of Turner Construction (project manager[25] of Burj Khalifa), Michael Graves and Associates and Meinhardt Group, will supervise the project. It will take 56 months to complete the project; 15 months for planning, 40 months for construction and two months for handing over by the consortium.[4] The total cost of the project was estimated to be about ₹2,063 crore (US$250 million) by the government.[20] The tender bids for the first phase were invited in October 2013 and were closed in November 2013.[26]

Foundation stone for Statue of Unity laid by Narendra Modi.

The then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi, (currently Prime Minister of India) laid the foundation stone of statue on 31 October 2013, the 138th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.[8][27] He along with L. K. Advani announced to the public that after completion of the project, it will be the tallest statue of the world.[8][19][28]

Indian infrastructure company Larsen and Toubro bagged the contract on 27 October 2014 for its lowest bid of ₹2,989 crore (US$360 million) for the design, construction and maintenance.[6][7] They commenced the construction on 31 October 2014 and is expected to complete it by 2018. In the first phase of ₹2,989 crore (US$360 million) project, Rs 1347 crore are for the main statue, Rs 235 crore for exhibition hall and convention centre, Rs 83 crore for the bridge connecting the memorial to the main land and Rs 657 crore for the maintenance of the structure for 15 years after its completion.[6][7]

Issues

Some local people have opposed land acquisition for tourism infrastructure development around the statue. They also claimed that Sadhu bet was originally called Varata Bawa Tekri, named after a local deity and so it was a site of religious importance.[27]

Environmental activists wrote a letter to central government that this project started implementation without environmental clearance from the ministry.[29]

People of Kevadia, Kothi, Waghodia, Limbdi, Navagam and Gora villages opposed the construction of the statue demanding back land rights of formerly acquired 927 acres of land for dam and the formation of Garudeshwar taluka. They also opposed formation of Kevadia Area Development Authority (KADA) and the construction of Garudeshwar weir-cum-causeway project. Government of Gujarat accepted their demands.[30]

When ₹2 billion (US$24 million) allocated for the statue in the 2014-15 Union budget, several people and the political parties criticised the expenditure for the statue over other priorities like women's safety, education and agricultural schemes.[31][32][33][34]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Gujarat: Sardar Patel statue to be twice the size of Statue of Liberty". CNN IBN. October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  2. ^ Ashwani Sharma (1 November 2014). "14 Things You Did Not Know about Sardar Patel, the Man Who United India". Topyaps. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  3. ^ http://www.statueofunity.in/brochure.html
  4. ^ a b c "Burj Khalifa consultant firm gets Statue of Unity contract". The Times of India. TNN. August 22, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Statue of Unity: 36 new offices across India for collecting iron". The Times of India. TNN. October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "L&T to build Statue of Unity, Centre grants Rs 200 crores". Indian Express. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d "Gujarat govt issues Rs 2,979-cr work order to L&T for Statue of Unity". Business-Standard. 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  8. ^ a b c "For iron to build Sardar Patel statue, Modi goes to farmers". The Indian Express. July 8, 2013. Retrieved Oct 30, 2013.
  9. ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/for-iron-to-build-sardar-patel-statue-modi-goes-to-farmers/1138798/
  10. ^ "'District farmers to donate iron for Statue of Unity' - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  11. ^ a b c http://www.theindianrepublic.com/tbp/statue-unity-ten-steps-glory.html
  12. ^ a b http://newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/Pan-India-panel-for-Modis-unity-show-in-iron/2013/10/20/article1844830.ece
  13. ^ "Statue of Unity: 36 new offices across India for collecting iron - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  14. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-farmers-iron-not-to-be-used-for-sardar-patel-statue-1932089
  15. ^ "Large number of people run for unity". ToI. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  16. ^ "'Saffron' run for unity". ToI. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  17. ^ "United rush to fill enrolment quotas for 'Run for Unity'". ToI. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  18. ^ "Hundreds take part in 'Run for unity' in Bangalore". Chennai, India: The Hindu. December 16, 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  19. ^ a b "World's tallest statue coming up in Gujarat". Daily News and Analysis. October 7, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  20. ^ a b "Gujarat's Statue of Unity to cost Rs25 billion". Daily News and Analysis. June 8, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  21. ^ http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/lt-to-build-statue-of-unity-centre-grants-rs-200-crore/
  22. ^ "Statue of Unity gets Rs. 200 crore". The Hindu. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  23. ^ "India's new budget includes $33 million to build the world's tallest statue". The Washington Post. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  24. ^ "India's Modi budgets $33 million to help build world's tallest statue". Reuters. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  25. ^ http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/burj-khalifa/3
  26. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/first-phase-of-statue-of-unity-to-cost-rs-2-063-cr-113102800706_1.html
  27. ^ a b "Ground gets set for Statue of Unity". The Indian Express. Oct 11, 2013. Retrieved Oct 13, 2013.
  28. ^ "Interesting things you should know about 'The Statue of Unity'". The Economic Times. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  29. ^ "Statue of Unity project has no environmental clearance, say activists". The Hindu. Chennai, India. December 23, 2013.
  30. ^ "Statue of Unity: Govt bows to villagers' demands". The Times of India. TNN. October 28, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  31. ^ "Budget 2014: Indians balk at ₹2 billion statue of Sardar Patel". The Times of India. AP. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  32. ^ http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/budget-2014-200-cr-for-pm-modi-s-sardar-patel-statue-vs-150-cr-for-women-s-safety-556156
  33. ^ "Budget 2014 live: 200 crore for Sardar statue sparks outrage on Twitter". Firstpost. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  34. ^ "Twitterati slam Rs 200 crore in budget for Patel statue The Indian Express". July 10, 2014.
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