Nehru statue in Punnamada progressing

ALAPPUZHA: A full-size Jawahar Lal Nehru statue to come up at the finishing point of the Punnamada lake has been progressing at Visakhapattanam.The memorial will be set up as part of the 60-year celebration of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in August 2012. The District Tourism Promotion Council and the Nehru Trophy Boat Race Society will build the statue which is estimated to cost Rs 12 lakh. A special committee comprising Union Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal and state Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar, District Collector R Ratheesan and tourism director Rani George, was formed to supervise the work. The 12-foot-tall, 900kg bronze sculpture is being constructed under the supervision of Ravisanker Patnaik, associate professor of sculptor Andhra University in Visakhapatanam.The statue construction committee members, Devadutt G Purakkad, and DTPC secretary V R Vinodh, visited Visakhapattanam the other day.