Awareness programmes to be held in Andhra Pradesh for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's statue

Awareness programmes will be held in Andhra Pradesh for the proposed statue of Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister, for which iron is being collected from across the country.

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) will conduct programmes in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati to create awareness about the project and its iron collection drive, Gujarat Minister of State for Law and Justice Pradipsinh Jadeja told reporters here today. "SVPRET has launched an iron collection drive in a big way for Sardar Patel's 'Statue of Unity' that is proposed to be set up on the bank of Narmada river in Gujarat. Iron will be collected from 1.50 lakh villages in the country for the statue," Jadeja said.

SVPRET is a special purpose vehicle was established by the Gujarat government for construction of the statue.

Giving details of the project, he said the 'Statue of Unity' will be a 182-meter tall landmark to be developed facing the Narmada dam, 3.2 km away on the island called Sadhu Bet of Narmada river, near Bharuch. "Tenders for the project will be floated in March next year and the project work will commence either in July or August and will be completed in 2017," he said.

The iron/steel to be donated by farmers across the country from their agricultural equipment, will be melted and used for the construction of the statue, sources said.