How The Sardar Patel Statue In Gujarat Overcame Engineering Challenges

How Sardar Patels giant statue in Gujarat, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on October 31, overcame engineering challenges to stand tall.

- Uday Mahurkar

It isn’t until one stands below the statue of Sardar Vallabh­bhai Patel on Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada that the enormity of the creation hits home. The 182 metre tall Stat­ue of Unity—twice the size of the Statue of Liberty—will be the world’s tallest statue once it’s ready, a sheer marvel of engineering being pieced together by an army of over 3,000 workers, including 300 engineers from infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T). The statue is to be inaugu­rated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31 to coincide with the 143rd birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.

As Gujarat chief minister, Modi had announced the project in 2010 ahead of the civic elections in Ahmedabad. Then it was seen as a mere pre­poll sop. Eight years on, the statue stands tall, thanks to the zeal of thousands of work­ers (some of whom left foreign assignments with L&T), Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and chief secretary J.N. Singh.

To many, the statue is as much a symbol of national uni­ty. Here’s why: the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET), set up by Modi in 2011 arranged some 129 tonnes of iron implements from nearly 100 million farmers in 169,000 villages across all states, a symbolic contribu­tion used to construct the base of the statue. K. Srinivasan, an IAS officer and member of SVPRET, who coordinated the iron supply, says, “The Statue of Unity symbolises the prime minister’s vision as reflected in his slogan ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat (One India, Best India)’ on the lines of the architect of united India Sardar Patel’s ideals.”