Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off the inaugural run of Vande Bharat Express from Dehradun to Delhi via video conferencing. This is the first Vande Bharat introduced in Uttarakhand. It will herald a new era of comfortable travel experience, especially for the tourists travelling to the state. The train has been indigenously built and is equipped with advanced safety features including the Kavach technology.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi said, India is being watched with great hope by the world today. He said, India has remarkably progressed in strengthening the economy, battling poverty and combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister said, people of the world want to come to India to see India, to understand the essence of India and in such a situation there are excellent opportunities for states like Uttarakhand. He said, Vande Bharat train is also going to help Uttarakhand in taking full advantage of this opportunity.
Mr Modi said, work on the Char Dham Grand Project with a cost of 12,000 crore rupees is going on at a fast pace. He said, with the completion of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, the journey between Dehradun-Delhi will become easier. The Prime Minister said, Devbhoomi Uttarakhand will become the center of attraction for the spiritual consciousness of the whole world in the coming days and we have to shape it’s development as per future demands. He said, since 2014, Government has transformed the Indian railways.
Mr Modi said, now the dream of high-speed trains a reality. He said, six thousand kilometres railway lines are electrified every year compared to 600 kilometres before 2014. The Prime Minister said, India is unstoppable now. He said, it is and will continue to advance at a speed parallel to that of Vande Bharat. The Prime Minister recalled his visit to Kedarnath and remembered his spontaneous statement that this decade is going to be the decade of Uttarakhand. He praised the development push of the state while keeping the law and order situation strong.
Mr Modi expressed hope that Devbhoomi will be the center of the spiritual consciousness of the world. He said that we will have to work to realize this potential. The Prime Minister mentioned that the number of pilgrims for the Char Dham Yatra keeps on breaking old records. He also spoke about the devotees coming for the darshan of Baba Kedar, Kumbh, Ardh Kumbh at Haridwar and Kanwar Yatra. He said that not many states have this number of devotees arriving and it is a gift as well as a monumental task. Mr Modi said, double engine government is working with double power and double speed to make this big task easy.
The Prime Minister said, Government’s emphasis is on the Navratna, Nine gems of development. These are 1300 crore rupees rejuvenation work at Kedarnath-Badrinath Dham, 2500 crore rupees Ropeway project at Gaurikund-Kedarnath and Gobind Ghat- Hemkunt Sahib, renovation of ancient temples of Kumaon under Manas Khand Mandir Mala programme, promotion of Homestay in the entire state where more than four thousand homestays have been registered in the state, development of 16 ecotourism destinations, expansion of health services in Uttarakhand, AIIMS satellite center is coming up in Udham Singh Nagar, two thousand crore rupees Tehri Lake Development Project, development of Haridwar Rishikesh as the capital of Yoga and adventure tourism and Tanakpur Bageshwar Rail Line.
He said these Navratnas are being consolidated with a new push to infrastructure development in the state. On the occasion, the Prime Minster also dedicated the newly electrified rail line sections in Uttarakhand. With this, the state now have its entire rail route 100 percent electrified.
