HC reserves order on PIL challenging construction of Statue of

The Gujarat High Court today reserved its order on a PIL challenging construction of the Statue of Unity, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pet project of raising statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, alleging that the project is a waste of public money.
A division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala today reserved its order on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which had challenged the construction of the statue.
Quoting reports, the petitioner, J D Goswami, in the PIL said the project would cost Rs 2,400 crore and further alleged that public money was being wasted on it.

The petitioner also alleged that local people were opposed to the project and instead of utilising the money on the construction of statue, the expenditure incurred on it could be utilised to redress the basic problems of local people.
"Already, there is one statue of Sardar Patel in the vicinity," the petitioner said adding, "and hence, there was no need for another statue of Sardar Patel nearby."
There was, according to the petitioner, no clarification on the safety measures for the locals, who were opposing the project, adding that, "Just by building a statue of Sardar Patel, no person can become an Iron man."

"The project is only for achieving political mileage for Chief Minister Narendra Modi," the petitioner said.

The Statue of Unity, which is expected to come up on Sadhu Bet on the banks of Narmada river, was initially opposed by many villagers, following which the state government ceded to the majority of their demands. Still, close to 70 villages, activists claim, are against the project.
Meanwhile, the foundation stone for the project was laid by senior BJP leader L K Advani on October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
On December 15, the death anniversary of Patel, a 'Run for Unity' was organised across various cities in the country to collect iron materials from everyone to build the statue.