From Namo Ghat revamp to mid-day meal kitchen: Projects worth Rs 1,800 crore to be launched by PM Modi in Varanasi today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi — his Lok Sabha constituency — today during which he will inaugurate and lay foundation stone of multiple development initiatives worth over Rs 1,800 crore focused on improving infrastructure and enhancing ease of living.

As per PM Modi’s itinerary, he will inaugurate the ‘Akshay Patra Mid Day Meal Kitchen’ around 2 pm at LT College, which has a capacity of cooking mid-day meals for around one lakh students.

At around 2:45 pm, PM Modi will visit the International Cooperation and Convention Centre — Rudraksh — where he will inaugurate ‘Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam’ on the implementation of the National Education Policy, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

Thereafter, at around 4 pm, the prime minister will reach Dr Sampurnanand Sports Stadium, Sigra where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple projects worth over Rs 1,800 crore, it said.

In the last eight years, PM Modi has put a lot of focus on infrastructure development in Varanasi and this has resulted in the transformation of the landscape of the city, the statement said, adding that the primary focus of this endeavour has been enhancing ease of living for the people.

Taking another step in this direction, during the programme at Dr Sampurnanand Sports Stadium, the prime minister will inaugurate projects worth over Rs 590 crore.

Among these are multiple initiatives under Varanasi smart city and urban projects, including redevelopment of Namo Ghat in Phase-I along with construction of bathing jetty; conversion of diesel and petrol engines of 500 boats into CNG; redevelopment of Kameshwar Mahadev ward of Old Kashi and over 600 EWS flats constructed in village Harhua, Dasepur; new vending zone and urban place prepared under Lahartara-Chowka Ghat flyover; tourist facility and market complex at Dashashwamedh Ghat; and 33/11 KV substation at Nagwa under IPDS Work Phase-3.

Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate various road projects, including construction of four-lane road over bridge on Babatpur-Kapsethi-Bhadohi Road; bridge on Varuna river on Central Jail road; widening of Pindra-Kathiraon Road; widening of Phoolpur-Sindhaura Link Road; strengthening and construction of eight rural roads; construction of seven roads under PMGSY and widening of Dharsauna-Sindhaura road, the PMO statement said.

He will also inaugurate various projects related to improvement of sewerage and water supply in the district, it said.

These projects include rehabilitation of old trunk sewer line in Varanasi city through trenchless technology; laying of sewer lines; over 25,000 sewer house connections in Trans Varuna area; leakage repair works in Sis Varuna area of the city; rural drinking water scheme at Taatepur village, etc.

Various social and education sector related projects to be inaugurated include ITI at Village Mahgaon, Phase-II of ‘Vedic Vigyan Kendra’ in Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Government Girls Home at Ramnagar, Theme Park in Government Old Age Women Home at Durgakund, the statement said.

The prime minister will inaugurate synthetic athletic track and synthetic basketball court in Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Sports Complex, Bada Lalpur and various police and safety fire projects including non-residential police station building at Sindhaura, construction of hostel rooms, barracks in Mirzamurad, Cholapur, Jansa and Kapsethi police stations and building of Fire Extinguisher Centre in Pindra, it said.

During the programme, Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone of projects worth more than Rs 1,200 crore.

Among these are multiple road infrastructure projects including six-lane widening of road from Lahartara — BHU to Vijaya Cinema; four-lane widening of road from Pandeypur flyover to Ring Road; Four-lane road from Kuchaheri to Sandaha; widening and strengthening of Varanasi-Bhadohi rural road; construction of five new roads and four CC roads in Varanasi rural area; construction of road over bridge near Babatpur railway station on Babatpur-Chaubeypur road.

These projects will significantly help reduce the traffic load on city and rural roads, the statement said.

To give a fillip to tourism in the region, Prime Minister Modi will lay foundation stone of multiple projects, including development work of Sarnath Buddhist Circuit under World Bank-aided UP pro-poor tourism development project, construction of ‘Paavan Path for Asht Vinakaya’, ‘Dwadash Jyotirling Yatra’, ‘Asht Bhairaw’, ‘Nav Gauri Yatra’, tourism development work of five stoppages in ‘Panchkosi Parikrama Yatra Marg’ and tourism development of various wards in Old Kashi.

The prime minister will also lay the foundation of Phase-1 of redevelopment works of sports stadium at Sigra, the statement said.

Besides, he will inaugurate ‘Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam’ at International Cooperation and Convention Centre — Rudraksh. Shiksha Samagam is being organised by the Ministry of Education from July 7-9.

It will provide a platform to eminent academicians, policy makers and academic leaders to deliberate and share their experiences and to discuss the roadmap for effective implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The event is being organised as part of capacity building of more than 300 academic, administrative and institutional leaders from universities, institutes of national importance (IIT, IIM, NIT, IISER) from all over the country.