Context: Recently, Prime Minister of India inaugurated 17 tourism projects around the Statue of Unity complex, at Kevadia in Narmada District, Gujarat. Sardar Patel’s birthday is being celebrated as Ekta Divas. The Prime Minister inaugurated the projects on the same day, and the 17 tourism projects are called the “Kevadia tourism circuit” have been themed around “Unity”.
About Kevadia Tourism Circuit

• Kevadia, a village in the tribal Narmada district, is home to the Sardar Sarovar Dam reservoir on the Narmada river, and was a popular picnic spot even before the Statue of Unity(SoU) came up.
• The circuit covers 35 tourist spots, out of which the Valley of Flowers, Vishwa Van, Jungle Safari, Cactus Garden, Butterfly Garden, Ekta Nursery, Tent City, Khalvani Eco-tourism, Zarwani Eco-tourism, Nauka Vihar and River Rafting, located around the periphery of the statue and the Narmada Dam, are already open.
• Last year, the Gujarat Assembly passed a Bill to establish the Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Authority (SoUTA) that will have powers ranging from acquiring land for any development project in the area, which is predominantly tribal, to taking punitive action against those violating it or encroaching on it.

Some of the major attractions of the Circuit

• Sardar Patel Zoological Park and Jungle Safari
• Children’s Nutrition Park
• The Mirror Maze
• Carnival look
• Riverfront cycling tour
• The Gardens
• The cruises
• Dynamic lighting on Sardar Sarovar Dam

Also Read: https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/MjMyNDAw/India-s-first-seaplane-project-Geography-IAS

Additional Information

National Unity Day 2020

• Every year, the National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) is celebrated on 31st October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• The day was celebrated for the first time in 2014, when the Government of India decided to celebrate Patel’s birthday as the National Unity Day to recognise his monumental contribution and service to the nation.
• On this day, several events like Run For Unity, a nationwide marathon to increase awareness about Patel’s contributions, National Unity pledge, Ekta Parade, etc. are organised.
• In 2018, the Government unveiled the Statue of Unity in Gujarat in Patel’s honour.
• It is the tallest statue (182-meter) in the world.
• In January 2020, it was added in the ‘Eight Wonders’ of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

• Born: 31st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat.

Achievements

• First Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India.

Headed various Committees of the Constituent Assembly of India, namely

• Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights.
• Committee on Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas.
• Provincial Constitution Committee.
• Integrated the farmer’s cause in Kheda Satyagraha (1918) and Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) with the national freedom movement.
• Women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel, which means ‘a Chief or a Leader’.
• Known as the “Iron Man of India” for playing an important role in unification and integration of Indian princely states into the Indian federation and for convincing princely states to align with the Indian Union.
• Requested the people of India to live together by uniting (Ek Bharat) in order to create a foremost India (Shresth Bharat).
• This ideology still reflects in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative which seeks to make India self-reliant.
• Remembered as the ‘Patron Saint of India’s Civil Servants’ as he established the modern all-India services system.
• Death: 15th December 1950 in Bombay.