Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Sudarshan Setu as an engineering marvel and said that Sudarshan Setu is not just a facility but an engineering marvel. He was addressing the public at an event in Gujarat's Dwarka on Sunday. PM Modi said, "Sudarshan Setu is not just a facility, it is also an engineering marvel. Students of structural engineering should come and study the Sudarshan Setu. It is India's longest cable bridge." He further said, "Today, I experienced those moments with will stay with me forever... I went deep in the sea and did 'Darshan' of the ancient Dwarka city."
Earlier in the day, he inaugurated the Sudarshan Setu bridge connecting the Okha mainland and the Beyt Dwarka island. Built at a cost of around Rs 980 crore,the 2.32 km-long cable-stayed bridge is the longest of its kind in the country, the PMO said in a statement. Earlier, he offered prayers at the Beyt Dwarka Temple in Gujarat. PM Modi reached his home state Gujarat on Saturday and held a roadshow in Jamnagar. He is on a two-day visit to the state to launch various development projects worth over Rs 52,250 crore related to health, road, rail, energy and tourism across the country.
PM Modi's entire programme in Gujarat
In a significant step towards strengthening tertiary healthcare in the country, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said, Modi will inaugurate five All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rajkot (Gujarat), Bathinda (Punjab), Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh), Kalyani (West Bengal) and Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh). He will inaugurate these facilities at a public function in Rajkot.
Sudarshan Setu boasts a unique design, featuring a footpath adorned with verses from the Bhagavad Gita and images of Lord Krishna on both sides, it said. It also has solar panels installed on the upper portions of the footpath, generating one megawatt of electricity, the statement said.
Before the construction of the bridge, pilgrims had to rely on boat transport to reach Beyt Dwarka. Among other projects, Modi will inaugurate a pipeline project at Vadinar involving the replacement of existing offshore lines, abandoning the existing pipeline end manifold (PLEM), and relocating the entire system to a nearby new location.
During the visit to his home state, Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of 200 healthcare infrastructure projects worth over Rs 11,500 crore across 23 states and Union territories.
He will inaugurate a medical college of JIPMER at Karaikal, Puducherry, and a 300-bed satellite centre of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical and Educational Research (PGIMER) in Sangrur, Punjab, among many other health projects spread across the country, the statement said. The 250-bed National Institute of Naturopathy named 'Nisarg Gram' in Pune will also be inaugurated.
In a step to boost the production of renewable energy in the region, the prime minister will lay the foundation stone of various renewable energy projects, including the 300 MW Bhuj-II solar power project, grid-connected 600 MW solar PV power project, Khavda solar power project and the 200 MW Dayapur-II wind energy project among others. He will lay the foundation stone of the new Mundra-Panipat pipeline project worth over Rs 9,000 crore as well, according to the statement.
(With inputs from PTI)
ALSO READ | PM Modi to inaugurate Sudarshan Setu on Sunday. All you need to know about the bridge
ALSO READ | Video: PM Modi uses virtual reality headset to inspect Kashi ropeway project
