Rains create puddles in Statue of Unity, triggers displeasure on social media

Vadodra: Rainwater made its way into the viewing gallery of the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, with tourists sharing videos of puddles on the floor and water dripping off the roof of the Rs 3,000 crore statue.

The viewing gallery, at a height of 135 metres, has a grill frontage which allows winds to blow in water during heavy rains, said officials.

“We had come with great hope to see the world’s tallest statue. But we are feeling bad looking at the statue in the rain. It has not rained heavily, and already the main hall and viewing gallery of the statueis filled with water. It is unfortunate,” a tourist at the site told reporters.

Several of those who shared videos on social media, however, expressed displeasure stating it as a case of corruption.

Apart from that, the incident also faced a lot of criticism on social media including – prominent YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and Raksha Ramaiah.

A tweet from the Statue of Unity's official Twitter handle said the incident was "being promptly tackled by the maintenance team".

“The viewing gallery is open with grills on the chest of the statue. The rear side of the gallery is covered by glass. The front view is open as per design. So it is natural that water will enter when it rains,” said Narmada Collector IK Patel.

Patel, who is also the chief administrator of the Statue of Unity, added, “There is a channel to dispose of rain water. But when the wind speed is more, lots of water comes in and house-keeping personnel continuously drain it out. It is not leakage as is being claimed.”

The Statue of Unity, a 182-metre memorial to Sardar Patel in Kevadiya in Narmada district, is the tallest structure of its kind in the world and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31 last year.