President Ram Nath Kovind to lay foundation stone of railway station in Kevadiya near Statue of Unity tomorrow

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind will lay the foundation stone of a rail station in Kevadiya in Gujarat’s Narmada district on 15 December, a statement from the Railway ministry said Friday. [caption id=“attachment_5399931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue, also known as Statue of Unity[/caption] The President will also visit the Statue of Unity and pay his tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his death anniversary. This will be the first railway station for Kevadiya, a small town with a population of 6,788 and just 3.5 kilometres from the Statue of Unity. The world’s tallest statue dedicated to India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October this year. To visit the site, one has to reach Kevadiya first. Currently, there is no direct air or train connectivity to Kevadiya. The nearest stations to Kevadiya are Vadodara (71.94 kilometres), Bharuch (75.36 kilometres) and Ankleshwar (77.95 kilometres). A smaller station, Miyagam Karjan, is 63.02 kilometres from the town. For air travel, one has to take a flight to Surat. Kevadiya is 83 kilometres from Surat. From the Ahmedabad airport, the Statue of Unity is almost 200 km away.