VARANASI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi amidst a grand welcome by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, along with several BJP workers, on Thursday night. The PM arrived in his parliamentary constituency on a two-day visit to lay the foundation stones of multiple development projects worth more than ₹13,202 crore on February 23.
“The PM will inaugurate 24 projects worth ₹11,972 crores and lay the foundation stone of 12 projects worth ₹2,195 crores,” a senior official of district administration said.
Additionally, the PM will attend a programme at BHU, where he will present awards to the winners of the Kashi Sansad Gyan Pratiyogita, Kashi Sansad Photography Pratiyogita, and Kashi Sansad Sanskrit Pratiyogita.
He will also distribute books, uniform sets, music instruments and merit scholarships to Sanskrit students of Varanasi besides interacting with the participants with their photograph entries on the theme of ‘Sanwarti Kashi’.
“PM Modi will visit Sant Ravidas Temple at Seergovardhan where he will offer prayers to Sant Ravidas and will have prasad in Langar (community feast). He will inaugurate various development works around Sant Ravidas Janmasthali worth around ₹32 crore, including unveiling of Sant Ravids statute and laying the foundation stone of the museum and beautification of the park worth about ₹62 crore,” Kashi region BJP president Dilip Patel added.
The prime minister will also visit Banas Dairy Plant in Karkhiyavan on Friday.
To further enhance the road connectivity in Varanasi, the PM will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of several road projects. These include the four-laning of Ghargra-Bridge-Varanasi section of NH-233, four laning of the Sultanpur-Varanasi section of NH-56 (Package-1), six-laning of phase-1 of the Varanasi-Aurangabad section of NH-19, four-laning of Package-1 Varanasi-Hanumana section on NH-35, and the construction of a Railway Overbridge (ROB) on the Varanasi-Jaunpur rail section near Babatpur. The PM will also lay the foundation stone for the construction of the Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata Expressway Package-1.
To push the industrial development in the region, the prime minister will inaugurate LPG Bottling Plant by HPCL in Sewapuri; Banas Kashi Sankul milk processing unit in UPSIDA Agro Park Karkhiyaon; various infrastructure work at UPSIDA Agro Park, Karkhiyaon; and silk fabric printing common facility centre for weavers.
Modi will also inaugurate multiple urban development projects in Varanasi including urban waste to charcoal plant by NTPC at Ramana; upgradation of water supply network in sis-Varuna area; and online effluent monitoring and SCADA automation of STPs and sewerage pumping stations. Prime minister will also lay the foundation stone of multiple projects for beautification of Varanasi including the projects for rejuvenation of ponds and redevelopment of parks; and for design and development of 3-D urban digital map and database.
During the day, the PM will inaugurate multiple projects related to tourism and spiritual tourism as well. The projects include redevelopment of public facilities at five Padavs of Panchkoshi Parikrama Marg and Pavan Path with ten spiritual yatra; launching of electric catamaran vessel provided by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for Varanasi & Ayodhya; and seven change rooms for floating jetties and four community jetties. The PM will also lay the foundation stone of thirteen community jetties of IWAI at various cities and quick pontoon opening mechanism at Ballia.
“Providing impetus to the famous textile sector of Varanasi, the PM will lay the foundation stone of the national institute of fashion technology (NIFT) in Varanasi. The new institute will strengthen the education and training infrastructure of the textile sector,” Patel informed the media.
Augmenting the health infrastructure in Varanasi, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of a new Medical College in Varanasi. He will also lay the foundation stone of National Centre of Ageing at BHU, he said.
“Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Sigra Sports Stadium Phase-1 and district rifle shooting range, a step towards strengthening the sports infrastructure in the city,” he added.
DM Rajalingam said that all preparations were well in place while commissioner of police, Ashok Mutha Jain said that tight security arrangements had been put in place and security had been beefed up.
