Visitors at the Statue of Unity have experienced infrastructural and logistical logjams both en route and while at the destination. Architecture student Kosha Shah took to Twitter to share her experiences as a visitor and illustrated how she and her fellow visitors faced problems because of the many teething issues around the newly opened tourist spot.
“Yesterday, I visited world’s biggest statue and talking about the user experience that comes with this incredibly huge 182-metre high national monument, we came across this. Obviously, looking at these pictures, we’d blame our people and our ethics. But there’s more to it,” began Shah, in a thread of tweets that contained photos of people sitting on the floor and even lying down in the hallway of the memorial.
Yesterday i visited world’s biggest statue and talking about the user experience that comes with this Incredibly huge 182 m high national monument, we came across this. Obviously looking at these pictures, we’d blame our people and our ethics. But there’s more to it. pic.twitter.com/8lVUGtd4i4
— Kosha (@kosha_shah11) November 9, 2018
Commenting on the hypocrisy of the system, Shah queried in her next tweet, “That people aren’t the only ones to be blamed but the government is at fault too. As architecture students, we’re failed by our jurors and faculty for incomplete work. Then how do you open a world-record breaker monument to the public with half-planned proposals?”
That people aren’t the only ones to be blamed but the government is at fault too. As architecture students, we’re failed by our jurors and faculty for incomplete work. Then how do you open a world record breaker monument to the public with half planned proposals? #StatueOfUnity
— Kosha (@kosha_shah11) November 9, 2018
Sharing a few pictures of people standing in the heat, she scathingly observed, “Did they really want people to visit the monument? We were standing three hours straight in the heat on the road for 16 buses that’d cater to approximately 10,000 people at a time since private vehicles weren’t given direct entry clearly highlighting lack of parking provision.” She also noted that there were no separate or dedicated lanes for pedestrians and cars at the site.
Did they really want people to visit the monument?We were standing 3 hours straight in the heat on the road for 16 buses that’d cater to approximately 10k people at a time since private vehicles weren’t given direct entry clearly highlighting lack of parking provision. pic.twitter.com/NGSPGuVhJs
— Kosha (@kosha_shah11) November 9, 2018
Then you expect people to not criticize government for what? Spending thousands of crores for global validation but not thinking abt visitors’ interest & provision of facilities the most basic being parking, covered waiting areas & separate lanes for vehicles and pedestrians? pic.twitter.com/uiNLyMZOuT
— Kosha (@kosha_shah11) November 9, 2018
Over the course of several tweets, Shah highlighted how this monument — that cost the taxpayers nearly Rs 3000 crore — neither had proper seating arrangements for the waiting tourists nor did it have properly-fitted washrooms for their use.
And you CANNOT blame population explosion for the mismanagement because that is the only excuse in the running and it’s high time the government needs to consider this while approving designs. Here’s what the tourist centre and facilities there looked like at the #StatueOfUnity pic.twitter.com/NOdiBHu0Ed
— Kosha (@kosha_shah11) November 9, 2018
Shah ended the thread with the observation, “Forget about public opinions being taken for planning considerations and holding public debates for project feasibilities because that’s what they do. They did not even think once how well connected and easily accessible this world monument is,” along with a picture to present the isolated reality of the statue.
Forget about public opinions being taken for planning considerations and holding public debates for project feasibilities because that’s what THEY do. They did not even think once how well connected and easily accessible this world monument is. pic.twitter.com/xPNHFGCGQc
— Kosha (@kosha_shah11) November 9, 2018
The Statue of Unity was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sardar Patel’s 143rd birthday, on October 31, 2018.