PM Modi unveils world's tallest statue, extols Sardar Patel's courage and capability
Kevadiya (Guj), Oct 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday dedicated to the nation a 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the tallest in the world, and said it will be a reminder about the courage of a man who thwarted efforts to disintegrate India.
Gujarat Governor O P Kohli, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP chief Amit Shah were present at the unveiling of the 'Statue of Unity'.
The ceremony coincided with the 143rd birth anniversary of Patel, who was known as the 'Iron Man of India'.
Lavishing praise on Patel for uniting over 500 princely states as India attained independence, Modi also made a pitch for the dream of 'One India, Superior India'.
"This (statue) is a source of unity...with this sentiment we should march...and march with a dream to make the country 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' (One India, Superior India)," he said.
"The statue will remind those who question India's existence that this nation was, is and will remain eternal," the prime minister added.
Modi said his government was toiling in line with Patel's dreams to create a "strong, alert and inclusive India". Referring to criticism over construction of the project, Modi said the BJP is censured even when it praises great leaders like Patel.
"Is it (praising great leaders) a crime?" Modi asked the gathering present at the unveiling ceremony.
"It was the sentiment of crores of Indians that the man who united the country should get the honour he deserved," the prime minister said.
It was the responsibility of the people to give a befitting reply to efforts "aimed at dividing the country", he said.
"The world's tallest statue will remind the entire world, the future generations about the courage, capabilities and resolution of the person who did the holy work of thwarting the conspiracy to disintegrate Mother India into pieces," Modi said.
Had Patel not united the country, people would need a visa to see lions in the Gir Forest National Park, pay homage at Somnath or view the Charminar in Hyderabad, the prime minister said.
The prime minister also stated that Patel had a mix of the diplomatic skills of Kautilya and the valour of warrior king Shivaji.
Modi described the 'Statue of Unity' as a symbol of the country's engineering and technical capabilities.
"As Sardar Patel united the country geographically by merging erstwhile princely states, we have united the country economically by bringing in GST," he said.
Hailing farmers, Modi said lakhs of them from across India came together, gave their tools and parts of their land to build the statue.
The imposing monument is twice the height of the Statue of Liberty in the US and is built on an islet, Sadhu Bet, near the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat's Narmada district.
In advertisements splashed across newspapers Wednesday, the government listed the world's tall statues, including the Great Buddha in Thailand (91 metres), the Statue of Liberty in the US (97 metres), Japan's Ushiku Daibutsu (110 metres), Myanmar's Laykyun Setkyar (116 metres) and China's Spring Temple Buddha (153 metres)
The Statue of Unity has been built using over 70,000 tonnes of cement, 18,500 tonnes of reinforcement steel, 6,000 tonnes of structural steel and 1,700 metric tonnes of bronze, which was used for the outer cladding of the structure.
A viewing gallery has been created at a height of 135 metres inside the statue to enable tourists to have a view of the dam and nearby mountain ranges.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
