FRENCH CONNECTION Puducherry plans its own ‘Eiffel’
Bosco Dominique | TNN Puducherry: Imagine dining on Eiffel Tower. That too, without applying for a visa or shelling out a fortune to fly to Paris. Such an evening — or many more evenings — could be all yours when an ambitious project initiated by Puducherry government jointly with business giants is completed. Union territory of Puducherry, in an effort to strengthen its French connection, is erecting a replica of Paris’s Eiffel Tower at Yanam, its enclave in Andhra Pradesh, 840 km from Puducherry. If things go as per plans, you could dine at the multi-cuisine restaurant on the desi Eiffel Tower offering a panoramic view of Godavari, Bay of Bengal, the ruined Dutch port, the seaside town of Kakinada, high-tech gas plants established by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and lush green coconut groves of Konaseema belt. The Rs 25 crore-replica, which will stand 333 feet (100.6 metres), will include a restaurant, a viewing gallery with four telescopes and an elevator going up to a height of 50 m to give visitors an aerial view of the surrounding landscape. Puducherry revenue Minister Malladi Krishna Rao, who represents Yanam constituency, told TOI that work was on in full swing and the replica will be ready before the year-end. RIL is sponsoring the project as part of its corporate social responsibility. Hyderabad-based architectural firm Team One India is designing the project while Nagarjuna Constructions will execute the construction. ‘‘The soil in this part of the country is loose and major constructions require pile foundation. We designed a 67-metre pile foundation for the project, which is the deepest foundation in the country. We also designed the pedestal on which the tower will be erected. In the next phase we will erect the columns and finally design the tower with steel and other rustresistant material,’’ Team One India chief architect Gopisetti Sridhar said. While the average wind velocity is 80 km per hour in Paris, it can go up to 200 km per hour in Yanam, which has led the designers to ensure a strong foundation. An RIL site engineer said approximately 700 tonnes of structural steel, reinforced cement and other rust-resistant material will be used to erect the tower.
