Prime Minister Modi arriving in Jammu today

Jammu, Feb 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is arriving in Jammu tomorrow – his maiden trip in the election year to J&K – to unleash a gigantic development bonanza as he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of ambitious projects worth over Rs 32000 Cr.

Undoubtedly, his much-hyped visit, which has generated vibrant hues of anticipation across political and social-scape, will have a dash of political flavour as he will address mega public rally at M A Stadium at around 11.30 am here to give an impetus to electoral prospects of his party in J&K.

In fact, the rally venue will be the fulcrum of his momentous visit wherein he will dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects related to several key sectors including health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, civic infrastructure among others.

During the programme, the Prime Minister will also distribute appointment orders to about 1500 new government recruits of Jammu and Kashmir. He will also interact with beneficiaries of various government schemes as part of the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu’ programme.

To define the visit in the words of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself as on the eve of his visit, he tweeted, “A big boost to all-round development! I look forward to being in Jammu tomorrow, 20th February to inaugurate key development works which will boost ‘Ease of Living.’ It will also be a landmark day for the education sector as various institutions including IITs and IIMs will get permanent campuses.”

POLITICAL HURLY BURLY MARKS MOMENTOUS VISIT

Amid spree of big-ticket development projects (to be inaugurated or to be initiated), political hurly burly is defining the significance of his momentous visit. Reason being, it is occurring after an eventful Budget session which saw the passage of crucial bills granting ST status to Paharis and three communities; reservation to OBCs in Panchayats, Urban Local Bodies and inclusion of Valmikis in the list of Scheduled Castes of J&K.

Exhaustive itinerary of development projects with a right mix of political decisions, which will have a definite impact in the ensuing general elections has enthused J&K BJP which is going full throttle to reap maximum political benefits out of this visit. Perhaps, rightly so.

No wonder, even the inclement weather conditions have failed to dampen the spirits of enthusiastic party workers and leaders, diligently working to make it a “trailblazer” event to launch an election campaign.

UNLEASHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS BONANZA

Officially speaking, in a major boost to the education sector and a significant step towards upgrading and developing education and skilling infrastructure across the country, the Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of several projects worth about Rs 13,375 Cr.

As per the details provided by the PMO, the projects which are dedicated to nation will include permanent campus of IIT Bhilai, IIT Tirupati, IIT Jammu, IIITDM Kurnool; Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) - a pioneer skill training institute on advanced technologies - located at Kanpur; and two campuses of Central Sanskrit University - at Devprayag (Uttarakhand) and at Agartala (Tripura).

The Prime Minister will inaugurate three new campuses of IIMs in the country viz., IIM Jammu, IIM Bodh Gaya and IIM Visakhapatnam. He will also inaugurate 20 new buildings for Kendriya Vidyalaya (KVs) and 13 new Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs) buildings across the country. PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone of five Kendriya Vidyalaya campuses, one Navodaya Vidyalaya campus and five Multipurpose Hall for Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country. These newly constructed KVs and NVs buildings will play an important role in meeting the educational needs of students across the country.

AIIMS JAMMU

In a step that will provide comprehensive, quality and holistic tertiary care health services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister will inaugurate All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Vijaypur (Samba), Jammu. The institute, whose foundational stone was also laid by the Prime Minister in February 2019, is being established under the central sector scheme Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.

Established at a cost of over Rs 1660 Cr and in an area spanning over 227 acres, the hospital is equipped with facilities like 720 beds, Medical College with 125 seats, Nursing College with 60 seats, AYUSH Block with 30 beds, residential accommodation for faculty and staff, hostel accommodation for UG and PG students, Night Shelter, Guest House, Auditorium, Shopping Complex etc.

The state-of-the-art hospital will provide high quality patient care services in 18 Specialities and 17 Super Specialities including Cardiology, Gastro-enterology, Nephrology, Urology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Endocrinology, Burns & Plastic Surgery. The Institute will have an Intensive Care Unit, Emergency & Trauma Unit, 20 Modular Operation Theatres, Diagnostic Laboratories, Blood Bank, Pharmacy etc. The Hospital will also leverage Digital Health Infrastructure to reach out to far flung areas of the region.

NEW TERMINAL BUILDING JAMMU AIRPORT

The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for a new terminal building at Jammu Airport.  To be spread over 40,000 sqm area, the new terminal building will be equipped with modern facilities catering to about 2000 passengers during peak hours. The new terminal building will be environment friendly and will be built such that it showcases local culture of the region. It will strengthen air connectivity, boost tourism and trade and accelerate economic growth of the region.

RAIL PROJECTS

PM Modi will dedicate to the nation various rail projects in Jammu & Kashmir including the new rail line between Banihal-Khari-Sumbar-Sangaldan (48 Km) and the newly electrified Baramulla-Srinagar-Banihal-Sangaldan section (185.66 Km). The Prime Minister will also flag off the first Electric train in the valley and also train service between Sangaldan station and Baramulla station.

The commissioning of the Banihal-Khari-Sumbar-Sangaldan section is significant as it features the usage of Ballast Less Track (BLT) all along the route providing a better riding experience to the passengers. Also, India’s longest transportation tunnel T-50 (12.77 Km) lies in this portion between Khari-Sumber. The rail projects will improve connectivity, ensure environmental sustainability and boost the overall economic development of the region.

ROAD PROJECTS

During the programme, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of important road projects including two packages (44.22 KM) of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway connecting Jammu to Katra; Phase two for four-laning of Srinagar Ring Road; five packages for upgrading the 161 km long Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri stretch of NH-01; and the construction of Kulgam Bypass and Pulwama bypass on NH-444.

The two packages of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, once completed will facilitate the visit of pilgrims to the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, and will also boost economic development in the region; The Phase two for four-laning of Srinagar Ring Road involves upgrading the existing Sumbal-Wayul NH-1. This brownfield project of length 24.7 km, will reduce the traffic congestion in and around the Srinagar city.

It will improve connectivity to popular tourist destinations like Manasbal Lake and Kheer Bhawani Temple, and also reduce travel time to Leh, Ladakh; The project for upgradation of 161 km long Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri stretch of NH-01, is of strategic importance.

It will also boost the economic development of Baramulla and Uri; Kulgam Bypass and Pulwama bypass on NH-444 connecting Qazigund-Kulgam-Shopian- Pulwama-Budgam-Srinagar will also boost road infrastructure in the region.

CUF PETROLEUM DEPOT

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a project to develop CUF (Common User Facility) Petroleum depot at Jammu. The state of art fully automated depot which will be developed at a cost of about Rs 677 Cr, will have storage capacity of about 100000 KL for storing Motor Spirit (MS), High Speed Diesel (HSD), Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO), Aviation Turbine fuel (ATF), Ethanol, Bio diesel and winter grade HSD.

OTHER PROJECTS

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of several development projects worth more than Rs 3150 Cr for strengthening the civic infrastructure and provisioning of public facilities across Jammu and Kashmir. The projects to be inaugurated by Prime Minister will include road projects and bridges; Grid Stations, receiving stations transmission line projects; Common Effluent Treatment Plants and Sewage Treatment Plants; several Degree College buildings; Intelligent Traffic Management system in Srinagar city; modern Narwal Fruit Mandi; Drug Testing Laboratory at Kathua; and transit accommodation - 224 flats at Ganderbal and Kupwara.

The projects whose foundation stone will be laid include development of five new Industrial Estates across Jammu and Kashmir; Data Centre, Disaster Recovery Centre for Integrated Command and Control Centre of Jammu Smart City; Up-gradation of Transport Nagar at Parimpora Srinagar; up-gradation of 62 road projects and 42 bridges and project for development of transit accommodation - 2816 flats at nine locations in districts Anantnag, Kulgam, Kupwara, Shopian and Pulwama, among others.

Last visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jammu region was on April 23, 2022 when he had commemorated “National Panchayati Raj Diwas” at Palli Panchayat in Samba besides unleashing development bonanza.