Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated phase 2 of Mumbai Metro Rail Lines 2A & 7, worth around Rs 12,600 crore. He was in the city to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 38,800 crore.
Later he took a metro ride from Gundavali Metro Station to Mogra on western line and also launched MUMBAI 1 Mobile App and National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1). He also took a walkthrough of the Metro Photo Exhibition and 3D Model. The PM was accompanied by Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Metro line 2A connecting Dahisar E and DN Nagar (Yellow Line) is around 18.6 km and while metro line 7 connecting Andheri E - Dahisar E (red line) is around 16.5 km long. The foundation stone of these lines was laid by Modi in 2015.
The PM also initiated road concretisation project of around 400 kilometres of roads in Mumbai at the cost of about Rs 6,100 crore. Of the total roads extending to around 2050 kilometres in Mumbai more than 1,200 kilometres of roads are either concretized or are in the process of being concretized. The remaining roads of about 850 kms in length have potholes and severely impact transportation. Concretisation will overcome this challenge.
Modi also laid the foundation stone of seven sewage treatment plants which will be built at a cost of around Rs 17,200 crore. These sewage treatment plants will be set up in Malad, Bhandup, Versova, Ghatkopar, Bandra, Dharavi and Worli with a combined capacity of around 2,460 MLD.
For strengthening of health infrastructure in Mumbai, the PM inaugurated 20 ‘Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhanas’. The facilities will provide essential medical services like health checkups, medicines, investigations and diagnostics completely free to people. Modi also laid the foundation stone for redevelopment of 360-bed Bhandup Multispeciality Municipal Hospital, 306-bed Siddharth Nagar Hospital, Goregaon (West) and 152-bed Oshiwara Maternity Home.
He laid the foundation stone for redevelopment of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The redevelopment is planned to decongest the southern heritage node of the railway terminus, augment the facilities, better multimodal integration and conserving and restoring the world-famous iconic structure to its past glory. The project will be done at a cost of over Rs. 1,800 crore. Modi also started the transfer of approved loans of over one lakh beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi Yojana.
In his address, Modi said, “This is the first time since independence that India has the courage to turn its dreams into reality. Earlier only poverty was discussed and getting aid from the world was the only option. This is the first time world is showing faith in the resolve of India. Today India is full of unprecedented confidence. Drawing inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the spirit of ‘Suraj’ and ‘Swaraj’ is strongly evident in the double-engine government.”
The prime minister said even in these tough times India is providing free ration to 80 crore citizens and making unprecedented investments in infrastructure development. “This indicates the commitment of today’s India and is a reflection of the concept of a Viksit Bharat.”
Stressing the role of cities in the creation of ‘Viksit Bharat’, Modi said during the Amrit Kaal many cities of Maharashtra will drive India’s growth. “That is why preparing Mumbai for the future is one of the key priorities of the double-engine government.” He said in 2014 Mumbai had 10-11 km long Metro route, with double engine government Metro got new speed and scale as Mumbai is rapidly moving towards a 300 km Metro network.
Modi said projects like the Coastal Road, Indu Mills Smarak, Navi Mumbai Airport and Trans Harbour Link are giving new strength to Mumbai. Projects like Dharavi Punarvikas and Old Chawls Development are getting back on track. He congratulated CM Shinde and his team for this remarkable achievement. He said work taken up for improvement of roads in Mumbai showcases the commitment made by the double-engine government.
With BMC elections expected to take place soon, sounding the poll bugle, Modi said that in a city like Mumbai, development cannot be realised till the urban local body also has the same priority. “That is why the role of the local urban body is critical in the development of Mumbai,” he said, as he emphasised proper utilisation of the money allocated to the Metropolitan.
He also warned against “politicizing” development. He said earlier schemes like SVANidhi which benefitted 35 lakh street vendors with an affordable and collateral-free loan, even in Maharashtra with 5 lakh beneficiaries was hampered due to political reasons. He stressed on perfect coordination and a system that works in sync between Center and Maharashtra to Mumbai.
He assured people of Maharashtra that the Shinde-Fadnavis combine will realise the dreams of the state.
