Puddles, dripping ceiling at viewing gallery of Gujarat’s Statue of Unity
New Delhi : At 153 metres, the viewing gallery at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Narmada district provides no relief from the pouring rain. As the southwest monsoon intensified across the state Saturday, a video emerged of visitors carefully wading through puddles of water while rainwater leaked from cracks in the ceiling. The State of Unity, dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is the world’s tallest statue at 182 metres.
The viewing gallery, which can accommodate up to 200 visitors at a time, has been designed in a way to ensure that the public gets a grand view of the Narmada.
The statue is experiencing its first monsoon since its inauguration in October last year and therefore videos of water dripping from the ceiling in the gallery went viral in no time on Saturday morning as the rains intensified overnight.
However, officials of the statue stated that the accumulation of water on the floor of the viewing gallery could not be termed as ‘leakage’.
IK Patel, CEO of Statue of Unity, told a newspaper that the gallery had puddles of water as it was open.
“The entire purpose of keeping the viewing gallery open is to allow the people to enjoy the scenic beauty of the place in its natural form. There is a glass enclosure at the back and there is no water collected there. However, the front of the gallery at the chest is open as per the design and it is natural that the rain will come into the standing area. There is no leakage in this part as the water dripping from the ceiling is also just a trail of the same rainwater,” he said.
विश्व की सबसे उंची प्रतिमा स्टेच्यु ओफ युनिटी मे घुसा बारिश का पानी
— jayesh cHauHaN (@BeiNgjacks) June 29, 2019
व्यु गेलेरी समेत अन्य कई जगह पर पहोंचा वारिश का पानी
3 हजार करोड कि लागत से बनी है स्टेच्यु ओफ युनिटी कि सरदार पटेल साहव कि प्रतिमा#sardarpatel #statueofunity #gujarat pic.twitter.com/BMNyuaZn5X
Patel, however, agreed that the exhibition hall at the base has reported leakage from several parts of the ceiling on Saturday morning.
courtesy: indianexpress.com
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TVK chief should be given opportunity to prove majority in TN Assembly: Omar
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said there was no justification for the Tamil Nadu governor to stop TVK leader Vijay from forming the government, and he should be provided an opportunity to prove majority in the assembly.
Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday rejected TVK chief Vijay's claim to form the government, stating that his party lacks the requisite numbers.
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has fallen short of meeting a simple majority to form the government in Tamil Nadu. Though the Congress with five MLAs has offered support to TVK, Vijay's party falls short of a simple majority of 118 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Abdullah said there was no justification for President's rule in Tamil Nadu in view of numerous Supreme Court judgements emphasising on inviting the single largest party to form the government and then prove its majority on the floor of the house.
"If we see the Supreme Court judgement, then there should be no President's rule. There are so many cases in which the SC has clearly stated that after the elections, the single largest party should be invited (for government formation) and they should be allowed to prove their majority in the assembly," Abdullah told reporters here when asked about the political situation in Tamil Nadu.
"It happened when (former prime minister) (A B) Vajpayee formed the government for 13 days, the President of India did not wait for him to show his numbers. The President of India invited him, the government was there for 13 days, but when Vajpayee did not have the numbers, he resigned," he said.
So, if we take the SC judgement, the J-K CM added, then the Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan "has no justification to stop this process".
"Vijay should be allowed to form the government, and then he should be provided an opportunity to prove his majority and if he proves, he will remain, but if not, then he will have to resign," Abdullah said.
To a question on whether there would be impact of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Jammu and Kashmir, the CM said its impact remains to be seen in the rest of the country first as the assembly elections in the Union territory were not due till 2029.
"As of now it (SIR) has happened in Bengal only. Why are you worried about J-K? The elections are not to take place here till 2029. Let us first see its impact in the rest of the country. What we had to suffer (in J-K), we have. We suffered their delimitation, which was done to benefit the BJP and its friends. Let's see what happens in the future," he said.
On the reported remarks of Leader of Opposition in the J-K assembly, Sunil Sharma, that if the chief minister goes for cabinet expansion, then his party, the National Conference (NC), would suffer like the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and someone like Eknath Shinde would emerge here as well, Abdullah said all his MLAs stand firmly with the party.
"This tells about the intentions of the BJP. 'Aaya Ram Gaya Ram' (turncoats). Eknath Shinde left because the BJP helped him to leave. It is obvious that the LoP is impatient to hold the chair of the chief minister of J-K. I will only tell him that there is no Eknath Shinde in the National Conference. NC's MLAs stand firmly with the party," he said.
Abdullah said the cabinet expansion is on hold because statehood has not been restored to J-K.
"Cabinet expansion is not on hold because of any fear and that is why I regularly say that the LoP proves through statements like this that till the BJP does not get power, they will not allow us to work smoothly and will not make J-K a state again," he said.
Hitting out at the LoP and the BJP, the J-K CM said the people of J-K, especially those who voted for the BJP in the last elections, should remember that the LoP and his party "indulge in the politics of blackmail and the people here are intimidated in the name of statehood".
