PM inaugurates 2 e-ways, says infrastructure a govt priority
BAGHPAT/NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated two expressways around Delhi, saying infrastructure was a priority for his government that was committed to the development of all sections and accused the Congress of trying to stall welfare projects through lies and rumours.
Expanding road network is high on the list of the Modi government, which has set a target of building almost 45km of roads everyday and opening 50 strategically important projects by early next year.
In the morning, Modi inaugurated the first phase of the ₹7,500crore Delhi-Meerut Expressway that will cut the travel time between the two cities to 45 minutes and help reduce the Capital’s notorious traffic congestion.
“Modern infrastructure plays an important role in improving the living standard of 120 crore Indians. Infrastructure does not differentiate on the basis caste, creed, religion and economic status,” Modi said as he opened to traffic the 135km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat later in the day.
On his watch, highway construction had reached 27km a day from mere 12km a day during the Congress rule, said the Prime Minister, who completed four years in office on Sunday.
A sum of Rs 3 lakh crore has been spent on laying a network of 28,000km of highways.
Accusing political rivals of trying to block his development efforts, Modi said at a rally in Khekra in Baghpat, “The truth is the Congress and the parties with it block or make fun of any work being done for the poor, Dalits, or tribal people.”
He also accused the Congress of spreading lies and rumours over the dilution of anti-Dalit atrocities law to farmer issues, saying people used to worshipping a family had started opposing the country in their zeal to oppose Modi.
“People who are used to worshipping one family cannot worship democracy,” he said.
At the rally, which came a day before the Lok Sabha byelection in neighbouring Kairana, Modi asked citizens to weigh their options.
“On that side are the people for whom their family is the country. For me, my country is my family,” he said.
The opposition parties have come together to take on the ruling BJP in Kairana, a communally sensitive area that saw widespread violence in 2013. Hundreds of people lined up to cheer and wave as Modi and transport minister Nitin Gadkari rode in two separate open cars after inaugurating the first phase of the 14-lane DelhiMeerut Expressway. The expressway would be completed by March 2019, Gadkari said.
The expressway will do away with 31 traffic signals on the Delhi-Meerut road, the busiest highway in the region, cutting the travel time of 150 minutes to 45 minutes. The Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) will reduce the volume of commercial traffic by 35% in Delhi, allowing 52,000 vehicles to bypass the Capital every day. The Rs 11,000-crore EPE will connect Haryana’s Sonepat to Palwal through Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Faridabad while serving as a bypass for vehicles entering Delhi.
(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)