E-Paper
PM launches projects worth ₹20K crore in 1st J&K visit since article 370 move
PM Modi is set to address a grand event in Jammu and Kashmir's Palli.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched projects worth ₹20,000 crore in his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since Article 370 was scrapped by the government in 2019. He received a warm welcome in the Palli village of Jammu where he addressed an event to mark the National Panchayati Raj Day.
The visit comes amid heightened security in J&K as the union territory visited two terror attacks in 48 hours. In Jammu's Sunjwan, a bus - with CISF personnel aboard - was attacked on Friday. One personnel lost his life and two Jaish terroists were gunned down. Two terrorists were shot dead in Kulgam on Saturday.
Barely hours before his arrival in the Palli hamlet, a blast took place in agriculture field, some kilometres away from the venue sparking concerns. However, the police suspected that the blast was caused by a lightning strike or a meteorite.
A slew of development projects are being launched on Sunday. Seeking to develop and rejuvenate 75 water bodies in every district of the country, one of the new initiatives in the J&K projects line up is 'Amrit Sarovar'. "The government has been focussed on bringing about wide ranging reforms to substantially improve governance and enhance ease of living for the people of the region at an unprecedented pace following the “constitutional reforms” of August 2019, a reference to the abrogation of Article 370 and making the erstwhile state into a union territory", the PMO had said.
The Banihal-Qazigund road tunnel, built at a cost of over ₹3,100 crore, is another in the J&K project list. It aims to reduce the road distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 km, and reduce journey time by around one and a half hours.
Three road packages of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, being built at a cost of over ₹7,500 crore, also aim to improve the connectivity.
“PM Modi has given a new industrial scheme in J&K. Since independence till now there was just ₹15,000 crore worth investment, now we've a proposal to increase the figure to ₹52,000 crore while projects of ₹38,000 crore will be inaugurated by the prime minister. We expect investment to cross the 70,000 crore-mark,” Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, said.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
