Hyderabad to get tallest Gandhi statue
Hyderabad:How tall will the Mahatma Gandhi statue, to come up at Bapu Ghat be? Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has vowed to install the landmark statue, tallest in the world, at Bapu Ghat as part of his ambitious Musi river rejuvenation project.
Directed by the Chief Minister, officials have begun a survey of significant statues of Mahatma Gandhi. Currently, the tallest statue of Mahatma Gandhi, at 72 feet, is situated at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Made of bronze, it was installed in 2013.
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the forecourt of the Assembly in Hyderabad is the biggest in Telangana. This statue of the Mahatma in Dhyana Mudra is 22 feet tall. It was made in bronze and was inaugurated in 1999 when N. Chandrababu was Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The Chief Minister wants to have wide-scale discussions on whether to the proposed statue should have Gandhi in a sitting and meditative pose or shown walking. The government would take suggestions from intellectuals of all walks of life, leaders of all parties and representatives of the people.
According to officials, Revanth Reddy wants to make Bapu Ghat a symbol of brotherhood and world peace, a spiritual centre and an educational centre. He recently shared his ideas with the authorities.
The government also is planning to call for tenders to construct sewage treatment plants (STPs) at a cost of `7,000 crore to purify the river water, and to divert the water from Gandipet towards the Musi river. It also plans to construct a bridge-cum-barrage at Bapu Ghat.
In an initial phase, the state government would take up Musi River front works from Gandipet to Bapu Ghat, where the Musa and the Esa merge to form the Musi.
"That is why it has decided to make this area magnificent as Gandhi Sarovar. It is also planned to establish Gandhi Ashram as an education hub where communication skills, ethics and values courses will be conducted along with an ideology center to reflect Gandhi's teachings, his practice and aspirations," sources said.