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Inauguration of Metro shows projects can be completed on time: PM
Addressing a public meeting at MIT college ground in Pune, PM said Metro launch gives the message that completion of projects can be done on time
PUNE: “Earlier, foundation stone-laying ceremonies used to happen when there was no clue about when the actual inauguration would take place. Today’s event is important as it gives the message that completion of projects can be done on time,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. He was addressing a public meeting at the MIT college ground in Pune after launching the metro rail and laying the foundation stone of various development projects in the city.
While stressing on his government’s approach to infrastructure-led growth in the country, the PM said that the most important thing for the development of modern infrastructure in any country is ‘speed and scale’. “This is the reason our government has prepared the PM-Gatishakti National Master Plan. This Gatishakti plan will ensure an integrated focus as all stakeholders will work with full information and proper coordination,” he emphasised. In previous decades, completion of important projects would get delayed, he said. The inauguration of the metro rail project in Pune shows that projects can be completed on time, he asserted.
Significantly, Modi’s remarks came a day after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar took a dig at him saying that an incomplete metro project was being launched. “The Prime Minister will be inaugurating an incomplete metro project,” Pawar had said.
On Sunday, two priority routes totaling a distance of 12km were launched out of the two 32km long corridors in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Modi said that metro connectivity is being developed in Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Thane and Nagpur cities in Maharashtra. “Our government’s priority is to focus on improving mass transportation, including metro rail connectivity in the country,” he said. He appealed to citizens to travel by metro irrespective of their position in society. “I would like to appeal to people from all walks of life, especially big people, to get used to travelling in the metro train,” he said and added that if more people travelled by metro, the volume would eventually help their respective cities.
Besides the metro, Modi laid the foundation stone of the river rejuvenation and riverfront development projects in Pune. According to the PM, the Mula-Mutha riverfront project in Pune and the metro service will help address the issue of constant floods and pollution. “The Centre is extending all support in making the Mula-Mutha rivers’ rejuvenation possible. When these rivers are rejuvenated, the people of Pune will also feel good. I would like to appeal to people living in cities to celebrate the ‘river festival’ to create a new awareness about the importance and preservation of these important lifelines,” he said. The PM said that he is happy that along with modernity, the ancient tradition of Pune and the pride of Maharashtra are being given equal place in the city’s urban planning.
About his government’s future roadmap, the PM said, “In 21st century India, we have to make our cities modern and add new facilities. Keeping the future cities of India in mind, the Centre is working on several projects simultaneously. Our government’s resolve is to have green transport, launch electric buses, electric cars, and e-motorcycles and there has to be smart mobility in every city. People should use only one car for mobility.”
