Statue of Unity now getting 30k daily visitors: Guj officials

The 182-metre tall Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Patel in Gujarat's Narmada district is becoming one of the country's top tourist spots and is now attracting about 30,000 people every day, senior state officials said Monday.

Both Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh and the state's Principal Secretary (Tourism) S J Haider put the figure of daily visitors at the site over the past few days at 30,000.

The statue, the world's tallest, located on Sadhu Bet islet on the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31.

United States Consul-General Edgard Kagan Monday visited the memorial.

Kagan spent time at the viewing gallery, located at a height of 153 metres, and took in the expansive view offered from there of the Sardar Sarovar Dam as well as the Vindhya and Satpura mountain ranges, said officials.

"The statue is very impressive and I'm happy to learn the purpose behind its construction," Kagan said after the visit.

The statue is a tribute to Sardar Patel's role in getting 562 princely states to accede to the Indian Union after Independence.

Kagan later visited Abhinay Gram Vikas, an NGO based in Rajpipla, which works for tribal welfare and rural development.