Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flagged off eight trains from major destinations across India connecting Statue of Unity (SoU), giving another transport alternative for the world's tallest statue. Trains will chug between SoU and Kevadiya from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Varanasi, Chennai, New Delhi (Hazrat Nizamuddin), Mumbai (Dadar station) and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.
“This is probably for the first time in the history of railways that so many trains from different destinations in the country were flagged off simultaneously," Modi said after the virtual flagging off. Modi also inaugurated other key infrastructure projects that included broad guage-converted Dabhoi-Chandod and Chandod-Kevadiya sections, newly electrified Pratapnagar-Kevadiya section and the new railway station buildings of Dabhoi, Chandod and Kevadiya.
Tourists inflow
The Statue of Unity (SoU) is expected to witness a massive inflow of tourists following starting of trains. “Kevadiya has now become a global tourist destination and it is getting more visitors than the Statue of Liberty in the US. With more connectivity now, nearly 1,00,000 people will visit Kevadiya in the coming days,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address after virtually flagging off trains. Close to 50,00,000 people have visited SoU after it was inaugurated by the PM in 2018.
Modi said nearly 200 rooms have been identified in the tribal villages in Kevadia to give the tourists an experience of homestay while bringing a transformation in the lives of the tribals. "New avenues of jobs and self-employment will open up for the adivasis. The railway line will provide connection to religious places like Karnali, Poicha and Garudeshwar on the Narmada River," he added.
Kevadiya, which has been developed as India’s first green railway station, will also have a tribal art gallery and viewing gallery. Tourists will be able to view the SoU from this viewing gallery.
Without naming the previous Congress-led UPA government, Modi said, “The dedicated freight corridor (DFC) as an example of change in approach from earlier times. This project was under progress and between 2006-2014 work was done only on paper with not even a single km of track laid. Now, a total of 1,100 km are about to be completed in the next few days.”
Stating that "aatmanirbharta" (self-reliance) in railway-related manufacturing and technology has yielding good results, PM called for the need for skilled and specialist manpower to for transformation of railways. The distance between Vadodara and Kevadia is 86 km and from Ahmedabad to Kevadia is 197 km.
Metro Rail Project Phase-II
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and Surat Metro Rail Project via video conferencing on Monday, Prime Minister Modi said that Ahmedabad and Surat will strengthen the country’s goal of becoming self-reliant and the government is striving to provide best urban infrastructure across the country.
The PM said the metro projects will further strengthen the connectivity in the two major business centres of the country, adding the government is developing an integrated urban transport system. “There was a time when there was no modern thinking and policy on metro in our country. The result was that there was a different type of metro in each city,” Modi said.
