Prerna Sthal inauguration: LMC authorities pull up socks to accommodate 2,500 buses, cars
Around 1.5 lakh visitors from Lucknow and adjoining districts are expected to attend the event. Although the 65-acre Prerna Sthal complex has in-house parking facilities, officials said these would be inadequate to handle the expected rush.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the Rashtra Prerna Sthal in Vasant Kunj here on December 25, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has begun making arrangements to accommodate an estimated 2,500 buses and four-wheelers.
Around 1.5 lakh visitors from Lucknow and adjoining districts are expected to attend the event. Although the 65-acre Prerna Sthal complex has in-house parking facilities, officials said these would be inadequate to handle the expected rush.
Municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar said, “The presence of both the Prime Minister and the chief minister at the same venue demands flawless arrangements. Parking facilities are being developed in a manner that ensures visitors do not face any inconvenience.”
He added that officials were making all-out efforts to ensure the Prerna Sthal was fully prepared to host the event on December 25.
The LMC, in coordination with the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), is identifying and developing more than eight parking spaces along key approach roads to the venue. Officials said nearly 1.5 lakh square metres of additional parking space would be required.
According to officials, all eight zonal officers of the LMC have been assigned zone-wise responsibility for managing bus parking on the day of the event. Officers of the additional municipal commissioner and zonal officer ranks will remain on the ground to supervise operations.
The civic body is also focusing on maintaining seamless civic services across the city, particularly along the airport-to-Prerna Sthal corridor. The municipal commissioner has divided the entire route into five sectors, deploying additional municipal commissioners to ensure cleanliness, prevent stray animal movement and maintain smooth traffic flow.
In addition, Jal Sansthan has been instructed to deploy at least 80 water tankers at various locations in and around the venue.
The three statues installed at the Rashtra Prerna Sthal, standing at 65 feet each, have been crafted using a carefully engineered blend of metals to ensure long-term durability, structural strength and refined artistic detail, according to officials associated with the project.
The statues were cast using a specialised metal alloy selected to withstand harsh weather conditions, temperature variations and the passage of time, while preserving intricate sculptural features. The alloy composition has been uniformly maintained across all three statues to ensure consistency in quality and appearance, they said.
The statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was crafted by Ram Sutar at Sahibabad, while the statues of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee were made by Matu Ram in Gurgaon, officials pointed out, adding the quality of the statues was regularly monitored during the manufacturing process.
At the core of the composition is bronze, which constitutes 85% of the total metal content. Bronze has long been the preferred material for monumental sculptures due to its strength, longevity and rich visual finish. Its use provides the statues with both aesthetic appeal and a robust structural framework, officials explained.
Principal secretary (tourism and culture) Amrit Abhijat said the remaining 15% of the alloy is made up of carefully balanced metals, each serving a specific technical purpose. “Copper (5%) has been added to enhance the statues’ tensile strength, allowing them to withstand stress and load over time. Tin (also 5%) contributes to overall hardness and resistance to corrosion, a critical factor for outdoor installations exposed to moisture and pollution. Zinc (making up the final 5%), improves casting quality and structural stability, helping achieve precision in form and uniformity during the manufacturing process,” he said.
The principal secretary, along with tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh, visited the Rashtra Prerna Sthal to review the work progress.
