New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today (January 5, 2022) visit Ferozepur in Punjab to lay the foundation stone for various development projects worth more than Rs 42,750 crore.
This, notably, is PM's first visit to the state since repealing the farm laws and as per a few reports, it is being opposed by some farmer unions.
According to officials, around 10,000 security personnel have been deployed in the district ahead of the Prime Minister's visit and an anti-drone team has also been deployed in the border district.
As per the Prime Minister's Office, these projects include Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway; 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.
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway
The 669-kilometre long Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will be developed at a total cost of about Rs 39,500 crore and will halve travel time from Delhi to Amritsar and Delhi to Katra. The Greenfield Expressway will connect key Sikh religious sites at Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran and the holy Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi in Katra.
The expressway is said to also connect key economic centres like Ambala Chandigarh, Mohali, Sangrur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Kathua and Samba in the states and UTs of Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
Four-laning of Amritsar – Una section
The four-laning of the Amritsar – Una section will be done at the cost of around Rs 1,700 crore. The 77-kilometre long 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, namely Amritsar-Bhatinda-Jamnagar Economic Corridor, Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway, North-South Corridor and Kangra-Hamirpur-Bilaspur-Shimla Corridor.
It is said to help in improving the connectivity of religious sites at Ghoman, Shri Hargobindpur and Pulpukta Town (home to the famous Gurudwara Pulpukta Sahib).
Mukerian - Talwara New Broad Gauge railway line
Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone of a new Broad Gauge railway line between Mukerian and Talwara of around 27 km in length. It will be built at a cost of over Rs 410 crore and the railway line will be an extension of the Nangal Dam-Daulatpur Chowk railway section.
It is said to provide an all-weathered means of transportation in the area. This project also holds strategic importance as it will serve as an alternative route to Jammu and Kashmir, joining the existing Jalandhar-Jammu Railway line at Mukerian. It will prove especially beneficial for the people of Hoshiarpur in Punjab and Una in Himachal Pradesh and will give a further boost to tourism in the region.
PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of new medical infrastructure in three towns of Punjab. The 100 Bedded PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur, will be built at a cost of more than Rs 490 crore and will provide services in 10 specialities including Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopedics, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Ophthalmology, ENT and Psychiatry-Drug De-addiction.
Two new medical colleges at Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur
Two medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur will be developed at a cost of around Rs 325 crore each and with a capacity of about 100 seats. These colleges have been approved in Phase-III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Establishment of new medical colleges attached with district/ referral hospitals’. A total of three Medical Colleges have been approved for Punjab under this Scheme. The college approved at SAS Nagar in Phase-I is already functional.
