75, 000 visitors in 5 days: Sardar Patel's statue major tourist draw

KEVADIA/SURAT: The Statue of Unity turned out to be a major tourist attraction with more than 75,000 people thronging the site during the Diwali holidays from Tuesday to Saturday. As many as 25,000 tourists visited the site at Kevadia in Gujarat's Narmada district on Saturday alone, officials said.

However, hundreds went back disappointed as they could not go up to the observation deck constructed at a height of 153 metres on the world's tallest statue (182 metres). Booking for the observation deck was closed within two hours of opening at 9am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The parking lots were full and the number of shuttle buses was insufficient.

"There was a huge rush of people from the state and those from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra," said PC Vyas, chief engineer, Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd.