New Delhi: “UP+Yogi is very UPYOGI”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his characteristic style at a massive public rally held at the Railway Ground on Saturday following the stone laying ceremony of the 594 kilometre Ganga Expressway.
After laying the foundation stone of the 594-kilometre expressway and the 3.5 km airstrip, the PM highlighting the achievements of the double engine government of Uttar Pradesh in terms of infrastructural growth taking place in the state. PM said: “Uttar Pradesh is big not only in terms of population but also area with distance between one corner of the state to another measuring around 1000 kilometres. So, the state requires the strength of a double engine government to make rapid strides on the part of development.”
PM Modi said that the Ganga Expressway connecting eastern and western UP and passing through 12 districts namely, Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahar, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rai Bareli, Pratapgarg and Prayagraj is an expressway with immense possibilities and will open new doors to the development of the state.
Emphasising that high-speed connectivity is a prerequisite for development, the Prime Minister remarked, “The around 600 kilometre Ganga Expressway to be constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 36,000 crore (36, 230 crore) will prove to be a boon for UP in terms of saving time of commuters, enhancing convenience, and ensuring optimum use of state’s resources for its development.”
Watch what PM Modi said:
UP+YOGI = बहुत हैं UPYOGI pic.twitter.com/1ATP6AJpMJ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 18, 2021
According to the PM, the expressway will not only bring eastern and western UP closer to each other, but also shorten distance between Bihar and Delhi. He added that it will benefit farmers, youths and labourers alike leading to setting up of a number of industries, especially food processing units.
He said that the network of expressways being built in UP along with multi-modal connectivity through roads, waterways, new metro routes and new airports will give momentum to UP’s development and the day is not far away when the state will be one of the most developed states of the country.
Taking a dig at the previous governments, Modi said that they misused state’s resources to fill their own coffers and that’s why most of their projects remained confined to papers, never seeing the light of the day. He also accused them of nurturing mafia and creating an environment of fear in society, which forced several people to flee the state.
Coming down heavily on the opposition parties for neglecting heritage and the poor and the downtrodden for its vote bank politics, he said that unlike them the present government is committed to the uplift of the poor and conserving India’s rich heritage.
Today, work is being done on such projects so that money of people of UP can be saved. So that your money remains in your pocket: PM Narendra Modi in Shahjahanpur pic.twitter.com/SJfvC6ulI8
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) December 18, 2021
“Thirty lakh pucca houses have been provided to the poor by our government. Over 50, 000 pucca houses have been provided to the poor people in the Shahjahanpur district alone. Besides, Modi & Yogi are committed to providing houses to all the poor people and a budget of Rs 2 lakh crore has already been approved for the purpose. Rs one lakh crore has also been approved for building rural infrastructure including cold storage facilities for farmers’ benefit”, he said.
PM added: “The opposition questions forces. It questions even those scientists who developed two Covid vaccines in record time. The opposition parties have problems with a temple in Ayodhya and Kashi because it does not suit their votebank politics.”
The PM lauded CM Yogi for taking on the mafia and gangsters and restoring rule of law in the state.
Ganga Expressway to give a fillip to industrial activities in UP: CM
The Expressway will bring numerous jobs and several new opportunities for thousands of youth: PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone of Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur pic.twitter.com/eTdCAsCVhf
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) December 18, 2021
Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that before 2014, announcements of projects were confined to elections and those at the helm forgot about it soon after the elections were over.
However, things changed after PM Modi took over, he said, adding that the PM’s mission was to connect the entire country through road, rail and air routes and bring people closer by shortening physical distances between one place to the other through expressways and also bridging cultural gaps.
CM said that the expressway will connect eastern and western UP as the recently inaugurated Purvanchal Expressway connects Central UP with eastern UP. He said that tho expressways along with Bundelkhad Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Road and Balia Expressway will pave for rapid development of the state, giving a fillip to industrial activities while connecting hearts also.
He said that the Prime Minister recently performed jalabhishek of Lord Shiva at Kashi Vishwanath Dham in order to honour faith and at the same time also honoured workers involved in the project. He added that the PM has been working tirelesssly for the welfare of the youth, farmers, women and labourers for the important rile played by them in the country’s growth.
Also present on the occasion were Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Finance, Parliamentary affairs and Medical Education Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, Industrial Development Minister of UP Satish Mahana and Technical Education Minister Jitin Prasada among others.
The Ganga Expressway will have six lanes with scope for expansion to eight lanes. It will boast of seven railway overbridges, 14 major and 126 minor bridges, 375 underpasses and 9 public facility complexes. There will also be interchange facility at 17 places. The expressway is dubbed to be the upcoming industrial corridor of UP. The first phase of the expressway will be completed in 2024.
