On the 31st of October, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the “Statue of Unity” will be unveiled by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
The Prime Minister along with various dignitaries will put soil and pour Narmada water into a Kalash. This will be the 143rd birth anniversary of the 1st Deputy Prime Minister of our country.
The engineering marvel whose foundation stone was laid on 31st October was completed in a record time of a mere 33 months.
Here we list 10 things you need to know about the Statue of Unity:
1. This statue will surpass the record for the tallest in the world, standing tall at 182 metres.
2. The statue is being built with 25,000 tonnes of iron and 90,000 tonnes of cement has been used in the construction of the statue.
3. The government has built an entire ecosystem of tourism around the statue, it includes a three-star hotel, a museum and an audio-visual gallery.
4. 135 metric tonnes of iron had been crowdsourced from villages around the country.
5. The Statue of Unity would be able to stand speeds of up to 50 metre per second.
6. A huge consideration has gone into making the site secure from the natural disaster. The statue is capable of surviving earthquakes up to the magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter Scale.
7. The statue comprises five zones, the first zone(up to the shin) has three levels, Zone 2 extends up to the statue’s thighs, Zone 3 goes up to the viewing gallery, Zone 4 consists of the maintenance area and lastly, under the Zone 5 comes the head and shoulders of the statue.
8. The Gujarat government is building a 3.5 km long highway between the statue and Kevadia town.
9. The statue has been completed in a record 33 month time period.
10. Two high-speed passenger elevators have been made at the statue’s star shaped-core to take visitors to the viewing gallery located at chest level. From the gallery, the visitors will be able to view the Satpura and Vindhyachal mountain ranges, which also form the point where Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra meet.
A glimpse into the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
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