COVID-19: Gujarat's Statue of Unity thrown open for visitors

The 182-metre tall Statue of Unity in Gujarat's Narmada district opened for visitors on Saturday for the first since March amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The statue at Kevadiya, the tallest such structure in the world and a major tourist attraction nationwide, was opened with visitors needing to follow strict social distancing and other norms aimed at containing the COVID-19 outbreak, a state government release said.

"Only 2,500 tourists will be permitted every day, with 500 of them being allowed in five time slots of two hours each between 8am and 6pm. Tickets can be purchased only from the authorised website and not physically from counters," it said.

Other attractions in the vicinity of SoU, like river rafting, ekta nursery, cactus garden and butterfly garden etc have also been thrown open for visitors, the release added.