Gulf News

10 lifts take tourists to Statue of Unity viewing gallery

One is the highspeed Skyrise elevator, which hurtles at speeds of four metres per second

-

The Mumbai-based vertical transport solutions provider Otis India has installed 10 large lifts to zoom tourists onto the viewing gallery of the Statue of Unity, inaugurate­d recently in Gujarat, an official said here yesterday.

Each lift, with a capacity of 26 passengers, takes around half-aminute (30 seconds) to rise 400 feet to the viewers’ enclosure on the chest of world’s tallest statue (182m) of India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbha­i Patel, Otis India President Sebi Joseph said.

Of the 10, one is the highspeed Skyrise elevator which hurtles upwards at a speed of four metres per second, besides two other high-speed elevators which take up the visitors from the core of the gigantic statue, which has now become a tourist landmark.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Statue of Unity to the nation on October 31, the foundation stone of which he had laid as the Gujarat Chief Minister in 2013 at the Sadhu Bet river island facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada. “The Statue of Unity, apart from being a symbol of national pride, is a tribute to India’s engineerin­g skills and project management abilities,” said S.N. Subrahmany­an, CEO and Managing Director, L&T, which constructe­d the statue out of the iron collected from half a million Indian farmers donating their used farming equipment.

Otis Asia-Pacific President Stephane de Montlivaul­t said it was an honour for the 165-yearold company to work on the Statue of Unity and it adds to its list of lifts for globally famed structures such as the Burj Khalifa (Dubai), Statue of Christ The Redeemer (Brazil), Eiffel Tower (Paris), Petronas Twin Towers (Malaysia) and Empire State Building (USA), among others.

 ?? PTI ?? The Statue of Unity, in Kevadiya colony of Narmada district, Gujarat.
PTI The Statue of Unity, in Kevadiya colony of Narmada district, Gujarat.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates