By AFP http://www.emirates247.com
Indian farmers were urged Thursday to hand over scraps of metal and tools for the world’s tallest statue, as construction began on what promoters hope will be a wonder of the world.
The tribute to Sardar Patel, the first home minister of independent India, is set to be twice the size of the Statue of Liberty and four times higher than Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
Work on the statue will be undertaken by Turner Construction, the company behind the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The metal structure, a pet project of opposition leader Narendra Modi in his home state of Gujarat, will rise 182 metres (600 feet) from an island in the Narmada river when completed in four years’ time.
Modi laid the foundation stone on Thursday and urged farmers to donate tools which will be melted down and used in the memorial to a politician nicknamed the “Iron Man of India.”
“People come to see the Taj Mahal, flock to America for the Statue of Liberty and France for the Eiffel Tower. Now people from all over the world will come here to see this wonder,” Modi said.
“We have asked farmers from every village in India to give old pieces of their agricultural tools, just 200 grams or 400 grams would do,” he added from the site at Kevadia, 170 kilometres (105 miles) from Gujarat’s biggest city Ahmedabad.
A metal collection effort covering nearly 700,000 villages across the country will begin Thursday and last until January 26 next year, state officials said. More info
