PM to open projects worth ₹2,412 cr in Kashi today
VARANASI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi will gift infrastructure projects worth over ₹2,412 crore, including two major national highways and an inland waterways project, to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi during his visit here on Monday.
It will be the PM’s 15th visit to his constituency in the last fourand-a half years.
The projects to be inaugurated also include a multi-modal terminal on the Ganga near Ralhupur village as part of the Centre’s Jal Marg Vikas Project and a sewage treatment plant at Deenapur. The PM will also formally receive India’s first container vessel MV Rabindranath Tagore, which started from Kolkata on October 30 and arrived in Varanasi on Friday. The multi-modal terminal has come up at a cost of Rs 206 crore. Three other multi-modal terminals are under construction at Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Haldia (West Bengal) and Gazipur (Uttar Pradesh).
VARANASI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will gift infrastructure projects worth over ₹2,412 crore, including two major national highways and an inland waterways project, to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi during his visit here on Monday.
The projects to be inaugurated also include a multi-modal terminal on the Ganga near Ralhupur village as part of the Centre’s Jal Marg Vikas Project and a sewage treatment plant at Deenapur.
The PM will also formally receive India’s first container vessel MV Rabindranath Tagore, which started from Kolkata on October 30 and arrived in Varanasi on Friday.
Three other multi-modal terminals are under construction at Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Haldia (West Bengal) and Gazipur (Uttar Pradesh). The Inland Waterways Authority of India is the implementing agency of the project, which will enable commercial navigation of vessels with a capacity of 1500-2,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) on the Ganga. Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry.
The foundation of the National Waterway-1 between Haldia and Prayagraj was laid in 1986. But work on the VaranasiHaldia waterway (amended scheme) began in earnest only in 2014. It has materialised now.
An official said the waterway was cheaper than road transport. National Waterway-1 (Haldia-Varanasi stretch) is being developed with technical assistance and investment support from the World Bank.
The total estimated cost of the project is ₹5,369.18 crore, which will be shared between the Central government and the World Bank on a 50:50 ratio.
Thereafter, the PM will reach Wazidpur village where he will dedicate to the nation the newly four-laned Babatpur-Varanasi road (17.25 km) and Varanasi ring road Phase-I (16.55 km) built at a cost of ₹812.59 crore and ₹759.36 crore respectively.
Together, the two national highways came up at a cost of Rs 1571.95 crore, according to an official statement.
The Babatpur Airport Highway will link Varanasi to the airport and go on to link Jaunpur, Sultanpur and Lucknow. With the flyover at Harhua and a road over bridge (ROB) at Tarna, the new road plan will reduce travel time from Varanasi to the airport, providing relief to the locals and tourists coming here, the statement said.
The ring road, with two ROBs and a flyover, is expected to reduce traffic, fuel usage and pol- lution on NH 56 (Lucknow-Varanasi), NH 233 (Azamgarh-Varanasi), NH 29 (Gorakhpur-Varanasi) and Ayodhya–Varanasi highway, the statement said.
Further the ring road is expected to provide smooth road access to Sarnath, a renowned Buddhist pilgrimage site. The PM will address a public meeting at Wazidpur village.
The sewage treatment plant to be inaugurated at Deenapur was built at a cost of Rs 235.53 crore.
The PM will lay the foundation of a sewage management scheme for Ramnagar, IQRT work on Kila-Kataria Road, driver training institute etc.