AMRELI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs 4,800 crore in Gujarat before the Diwali celebrations.
These include nearly 1,600 development projects in Amreli, Jamnagar, Morbi, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Junagadh, Porbandar, Kutch and Botad districts.
The PM inaugurated several water supply projects. He also laid the foundation stones for new development of this sector. In Amreli, he dedicated to the nation the Bhara Mata Sarovar, a reservoir constructed on the Gagadio River at a cost of Rs 35 crore.
Modi further initiated more than 1,000 projects under the scheme for water conservation, through which pit, borewell and well recharge initiatives are being funded to the tune of an investment of Rs 20 crore.
Besides this, he laid the foundation stones of various NHAI projects worth more than Rs 2,800 crore, besides launching the gauge conversion project worth Rs 1,094 crore at Bhuj-Naliya of the Railways department.
Modi laid the foundation stones of multiple water supply projects worth Rs 705 crore in Amreli. Foundation stones have been laid for projects worth Rs 112 crore, while other projects worth Rs 644 crore have been inaugurated. These include the groundbreaking ceremony of the Nawada to Chavand bulk pipeline project for the Botad district and Bhavnagar District’s Pasavi Group Augmentation Water Supply Scheme Phase 2. The Nawada to Chavand bulk pipeline project will provide an additional 28 crore litres of water for nearly 67 lakh people in 1,298 villages and 36 towns in the Botad, Amreli, Junagadh, Rajkot, and Porbandar districts. The Bhavnagar district’s water supply projects would cover 2.75 lakh people, who would be residing in 95 villages across the Mahuva, Talaja, and Palitana tehsils.
Built under a PPP between the Gujarat government and Dholakia Foundation, at an expenditure of Rs 35 crore in the Dudhala region of Amreli, Bharat Mata Sarovar was constructed. Its stored water capacity has been boosted to 4.5 crore litres, and the Dholakia Foundation has given donations for further improvement, which has added up to 20 crore liters. Therefore, the present capacity of the dam is 24.5 crore litres, and water in village local wells and borewells has increased significantly in the nearest areas.
The PM also inaugurated and launched NHAI projects, which are worth Rs 2811 crore. Among these projects are the expansion of Patia-Dhol-Bhadra and Bhadra Pipaliya sections of the National Highway 151-A and several other extension projects of roads in areas namely Dwarka, Khamblaiya Devriya, Madhavpur, Porbandar, and Junagadh bypass sections.
He also inaugurated the Bhuj-Naliya Gauge Conversion Project, which has been executed at a cost of Rs 1094 crore.