Ferozepur visit: PM Modi to lay stone of over Rs 42K crore projects

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ferozepur on Wednesday to lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 42,750 crore, including the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway that will cut the travel time between the cities by half, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The other projects include the four-laning of Amritsar-Una section, Mukerian-Talwara new broad gauge railway line, PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur and two new medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur.

Rain, hail likely to play spoilsport tomorrow

• Rain and hailstorm are likely to play spoilsport for the Prime Minister’s rally in Ferozepur on Wednesday.
• Raj Kumar, an agrometeorology scientist at PAU, said, “A fresh active western disturbance and its associated cyclonic circulation are likely to affect Punjab from January 4 to 6.”
• He said an alert had already been issued for rain and hailstorm in the Malwa region, including Ferozepur.
• Ignoring the forecast, state BJP chief Ashwani Sharma on Monday met party leaders in southern Malwa region to mobilise more workers for the PM’s rally. tns

The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will connect key economic centres such as Ambala, Chandigarh, Mohali, Sangrur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Kathua and Samba in Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

They added that “the consistent endeavour of the Prime Minister to improve connectivity all across the country has led to multiple national highway development initiatives across Punjab. It has resulted in more than doubling the total length of national highways from about 1,700 km in 2014 to more than 4,100 km in 2021.

“In continuation of such efforts, the foundation stone of two major road corridors will be laid in Punjab. This will also be a step towards fulfilling the Prime Minister’s vision to enhance accessibility to major religious centres,” the PMO said.

Meanwhile, the four-laning of the Amritsar-Una section will be done at the cost of around Rs 1,700 crore.

The 77-km section is part of the larger Amritsar to Bhota corridor spanning across the longitudinal expanse of northern Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, connecting four major national highways — Amritsar-Bathinda-Jamnagar Economic Corridor, Delhi–Amritsar-Katra Expressway, North-South Corridor and Kangra-Hamirpur-Bilaspur-Shimla Corridor. It will help in improving the connectivity of religious sites at Ghoman, Shri Hargobindpur and Pulpukta town (home to the famous Gurdwara Pulpukta Sahib), the PMO said. The PM will also lay the foundation stone of a new Broad Gauge railway line between Mukerian and Talwara of around 27 km, to be built at a cost of Rs 410 crore.

Farmers vow to oppose Ferozepur rally

Amritsar: Farmers, under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), have announced to oppose the PM’s rally on Wednesday. At a meeting at Chabba village on Monday, KMSC state secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said the Amritsar wing of farmers would reach the venue to protest against the Centre for not fulfilling all their demands. “Though the farm laws have been withdrawn, most of our demands are unaddressed, he said. tns

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