Statue of Unity: Visiting hours increased by two hours to accommodate rush of tourists
So, in order to cater to the requirement of the tourists the authorities have decided to increase the visiting hours to the Statue of Unity by two hours – one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening.” (Image Credit Tarun Bhardwaj/Financialexpress.com)
The Gujarat government authorities including the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Ekta Trust and the Statue of Unity administration have decided to increase the visiting time to the world’s tallest statue by two hours. It has been done to accommodate the heavy rush of tourists visiting the site. Talking to the Financial Express Online, Jenu Devan, MD of Gujarat Tourism said, “Almost 10,000 tourists come on a daily basis to the Statue of Unity and on holidays and weekends the number may go up to 15,000 to 20,000. So, in order to cater to the requirement of the tourists the authorities have decided to increase the visiting hours to the Statue of Unity by two hours – one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening.”
The Statue of Unity will now open for tourists at 8am instead of earlier 9am and will remain open till 6pm instead of earlier 5pm. The viewing gallery situated at the chest height of this 182-meter-high Statue of Sardar Patel is the prime attraction for the tourists as they get a panoramic view of the Narmada Valley, lofty Satpura and Vindhya Mountains and the Sardar Sarovar dam situated 3.2 KM upstream from the Statue.
“Tourists want to take the lift to the chest level, all tourists wish to visit the viewing gallery and but only a certain number, approximately 5,000 can go up to the viewing gallery. Its number also depends on lifts’ carrying capacity and the time spent by the tourists at the chest level. So, the authorities have taken a stand that in order to cater to more tourists coming from far away places the time limit for visiting the Statue of Unity should be increased by two hours. That way it can accommodate more and more people on a daily basis,” Devan said.
Dewan also told Financial Express Online that this time slot will remain for the time being as the tourists demand is likely to increase due to the upcoming vacations season, so, in next few months it won’t change. “As of now visiting time stands to remain same but it all depends on the situation in the future,” Devan added.
Statue of Unity is witnessing huge rush of tourists and according to a reply filed by the Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons over Eight lakh tourists have visited the place since its inauguration on 31st October till the end of January and the “revenue generated from visitors to Statue of Unity from November, 2018 to January, 2019 is Rs.19.47 crore.”
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