AMN / Dehradun
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated seven projects and laid the foundation stone of 11 more projects worth around 18,000 crore rupees at a special function here today.
This includes the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor which will be built at a cost of around 8,300 crore rupees. It will significantly reduce the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun from six hours to around 2.5 hours. It will have Asia’s largest wildlife elevated corridor of 12 kilometres for unrestricted wildlife movement. The Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor will also have arrangements for rainwater harvesting at intervals of 500 metres and over 400 water recharge points. The greenfield alignment project from Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, connecting Halgoa, Saharanpur to Bhadrabad, Haridwar will be constructed at a cost of over 2,000 crore rupees. It will provide seamless connectivity and reduce travel time from Delhi to Haridwar as well. The Dehradun – Paonta Sahib (Himachal Pradesh) road project, to be constructed at a cost of around 1,700 crore rupees, will reduce travel time and provide seamless connectivity between the two places. It will also boost inter-state tourism.
A bridge across River Ganga next to the Lakshman Jhula will also be constructed. The world renowned Lakshman Jhula was constructed in 1929, but has now been closed due to decreased load carrying capacity. The Prime Minister has also laid the foundation stone for the Child-Friendly City Project, Dehradun, to make the city child friendly by making the roads safer for their travel.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for projects related to development of water supply, road and drainage systems in Dehradun at a cost of over 700 crore rupees. In line with the Prime Minister’s vision to develop smart spiritual towns and upgrade tourism-related infrastructure, the foundation stone for infrastructure development works at Shri Badrinath Dham and Gangotri-Yamunotri Dham has also been laid by the Prime Minister.
Mr Modi inaugurated seven projects, including those which focus on making travel safer by tackling the problem of chronic landslides in the region. He also inaugurated the 120 MW Vyasi Hydroelectric Project, built over River Yamuna at a cost of over 1,700 crore rupees, along with a Himalayan Culture Centre in Dehradun.
Speaking on this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Uttarakhand is not just the centre of faith, but is the symbol of hard work and determination also. That is why development of the state is one of the foremost priorities of the ‘double engine government’ of the Centre and the State. He emphasized that at the beginning of this century, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee started a campaign to increase connectivity in India. However, Mr Modi said, after that for 10 years there was such a government in the country, which wasted valuable time of the country and Uttarakhand.
Talking about the changed working style, the Prime Minister said today, India is moving ahead with the intention of investing more than 100 lakh crore rupees in modern infrastructure. India’s policy today is of ‘Gatishakti’, to work twice or thrice as fast.
Dwelling on the benefits of connectivity, the Prime Minister said, before the Kedarnath tragedy, in 2012, five lakh 70 thousand people had Darshan. It was a record at that time. Whereas before the start of the Corona period, in 2019, more than 10 lakh people had come to visit Kedarnath. The reconstruction of Kedar Dham has not only increased the number of devotees coming for Darshan, but has also provided many opportunities for employment and self-employment to the local people, he added.
Comparing the pace of development, Mr Modi pointed out that between 2007 and 2014, the Central Government built only 288 kilometres of national highways in Uttarakhand in seven years. Whereas the current government has constructed a national highway of more than two thousand kilometres in Uttarakhand in its seven years. He said that the critical issues like One rank, One pension, modern weapons, give a befitting reply to terrorists, were not attended properly and that demoralized the Army at every level. He added that the government which is in place today cannot come under the pressure of any country in the world. We are people who follow the Mantra of ‘Nation first, Always first’.
The Prime Minister criticized the politics of pampering only one caste, religion and discrimination in development policies. He also attacked the perversion of politics that does not allow people to be strong and make them dependent on the government for their needs. He articulated the thinking of his government which adopted a different path. It is a difficult path, but it is in the interest of the country, it is in the interest of the people of the country. This is the path – ‘Sabka Saath – Sabka Vikas’.