In order to make the world’s tallest Statue of Unity more appealing for tourists, the Indian Railways (IR) have decided to set up an art gallery at the Ekatanagar Kevadiya Railway Station, as reported by The New Indian Express. Reportedly, the art gallery will be developed with a souvenir shop at the newly built Ekatanagar railway station under the Western Railway. The station is said to be India’s first Green energy certified railway station.
The world’s tallest 182-metre statue dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is a major tourist attraction.
Chief spokesperson of Western Railway, Sumit Thakur told media that the new art gallery will be an added attraction for people visiting the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya in Gujarat’s Narmada district. “Now tourists visiting the Statue of Unity can experience the rich cultural history of Gujarat at Kevadiya railway station itself,” Thakur said, reported The New Indian Express.
Reportedly, the Indian Railways was given the contract to build the art gallery with Souvenir shop under the PPP (public-private partnership) model. According to Thakur, the Art Gallery will offer different arts and crafts of Gujarat and even other states to visitors while functioning under the PPP model.
Thakur further highlighted that the Art Gallery will be “developed and operated by the private giving and earning of Rs 24.7 lakh to railways for next 10 years”. Moreover, he claimed that along with providing an enriching experience to the visitors coming to see the Statue of Unity, the Art Gallery will also “have a good bearing on the social front of localities.”
Underlining more benefits of developing the Art Gallery, Thakur claimed that it will generate employment for the local tribal people of the Narmada district while also helping them promote their arts and crafts.
With its construction completed in 2018, the Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest statue. Notably, in just over a year, it managed to attract a significant number of tourists from across the country and abroad. In 2019, it even surpassed the footfall at the Statue of Liberty in the US with an average of over 15,000 tourists visiting daily.
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