PM Modi inaugurates tourism attractions at Statue of Unity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat, inaugurated four new tourist attractions near Statue of Unity at Keviya in Narma district on Friday.

prime minister inaugurated Arogya Van, Ekta Mall, Children's Nutrition Park and Sardar Patel Zoological Park/ Jungle Safari. He was scheduled to launch 17 new projects, including a seaplane service, on Friday and Saturday.

Modi first inaugurated Arogya Van (`health forest'), spre over 17 acres with a wide range of medicinal plants. sprawling garden, which boasts of five lakh plants of 380 species, also highlights importance of Yoga, Ayurveda and meditation, an official release said.

It also has a `yoga and meditation' garden, souvenir shop and a cafeteria serving "Ayurveda foods". Modi also visited a digital information centre and an indoor plants garden inside Arogya Van.

prime minister n inaugurated Ekta Mall, a unique store near Statue of Unity where tourists can buy handloom and handicraft products from various states. two-storey air-conditioned complex is spre over 35,000 square feet and houses 20 emporia, said government release.

Modi, accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, visited several emporia. prime minister spent significant time at stalls selling tritional items from Jammu and Kashmir and rth-East. He showed keen interest in processes involved in making m, an official said.

PM next inaugurated a Children's Nutrition Park, dubbed as world's first such techlogy-driven me park developed over 35,000 square meters. Its primary objective is to make children understand importance of nutritious food, officials said.

park has 47 attractions providing "infotainment" to children with underlying me of "Sahi Poshan Desh Roshan". Modi n inaugurated Jungle Safari, a state-of-- art Zoological Park spre across 375 acres and seven levels.

It houses over 1,100 indigeus and exotic birds and animals of more than 100 species including tigers, lions, giraffes, zebras and leopards. Safari also boasts of two world's largest geodesic dome aviaries.

prime minister visited aviaries and allowed parrots to sit on his arm. Jungle Safari also has a Petting Zone, where visitors can touch and pet animals. PM would be staying at Keviya overnight, release said. 

(Photo Credit: Twitter/PIBAhmedab)