Modi taking India towards development: Dr Jitendra
Rs 4300 cr approved for 2 Ring Roads in J&K: Gadkari
Sanjeev Pargal
UDHAMPUR, Apr 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called upon the youths of Kashmir to choose tourism over terrorism and progressive over destructive stones saying the valley has the potential to attract tourists from the entire world due to its beauty, which will boost economic development of the State.
Addressing a mammoth public rally at Battal Ballian Ground here after inaugurating 9.2 kilometers long Chenani-Nashri tunnel, Modi said the tunnel is a boon for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, more so, the Kashmir valley as they would be able to sell their products in New Delhi and elsewhere anytime.
Modi once again invoked former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s formula of solving Kashmir problem under the ambit of ‘Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat’ (Kashmirism, Democracy and Humanity) saying his Government was committed to develop Jammu and Kashmir and take it to the new heights in which tourism will flourish and lead to employment opportunities.
“Forty years of bloodshed hasn’t benefited anyone. It has served no purpose. Whether it was the blood of son of a Kashmiri mother or any other part of the country…. it spilled over the Kashmir valley for 40 years but didn’t help anyone,” Modi said in his 23 minutes address to the huge crowd in the presence of Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Union Minister for Roads and Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh and several Ministers of the State Government and the legislators.
Saying that it was time for the youth of Kashmir to join the path of development, boost tourism and infrastructure and, in turn, get benefited by employment, Modi said they should choose tourism over terrorism for well being of the people and development of the State.
He said the misguided youth of Kashmir should realize the power of a stone by looking towards the tunnel (Chenani-Nashri) that was inaugurated today him.
“There are youths, who carved out stones to build the tunnel and, in turn, earned fortunes for themselves with their hard work. On the other, there are misguided youth in the Valley, who indulged in stone pelting,” Modi said sending out a clear message to stone pelters of the Valley, who quite often hold the people to ransom, to shun stone pelting and help in tourism and other developmental activities in the Kashmir valley for prosperity and welfare of the people.
“I want to tell the Kashmiri youth, there are two paths in front of you which can determine your future — one is tourism, the other is terrorism. Over last 40 years, there has been lot of bloodshed. My own Valley has been blood-soaked, my Kashmir’s beloved youth, my Hindustan’s beloved youth. Nobody has benefitted from this bloodshed,” the Prime Minister said.
The message was aimed at misguided youths of the Valley, who had indulged in stone pelting last year and spoiled tourism season and even this year, some of them have been indulging in similar kind of activities, badly affecting the upcoming tourism season.
He said if the people of Kashmir had devoted the same 40 years to development of tourism, the valley would have been blessed with tourism of world class.
“I am happy that youth of Jammu and Kashmir earned fortunes by craving stones and doing other works in construction of tunnel. I’m proud of these youths,” he said in his comparison of stones used for progress by one section of the youth and destruction by some others.
The Prime Minister again invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s slogan of ‘Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat, Insaniyat (Kashmirism, Democracy and Humanity)’ and said this “prime motto” will be used for taking the State to new heights of development and “no obstacle can stop us”.
Modi said whenever the mention of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh comes, remembering Vajpayee was inevitable as he had given the slogan of ‘Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat’.
“Using the same prime motto, we will move ahead with harmony, with brotherhood, with strong will and determination for the brighter future of the youth,” he said, amid repeated chants of `Modi, Modi’ by the crowd.
Modi said whenever we talk about Jammu and Kashmir, every people from Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh remember Atal (Behari Vajpayee) ji.
The Prime Minister said development will be pushed further in all three parts of Jammu and Kashmir State — Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh.
Modi said if the Kashmiri youth ignore the “invaluable tradition of sufi culture”, they would “lose the present and put their future into darkness”.
In a veiled manner, the Prime Minister also hit out at the rulers of Pakistan who are eyeing Kashmir, saying “they can’t even take care of themselves”.
“A message should go across about development of Jammu and Kashmir. They should look at our development,” he said.
He said his Government was committed to ensure fast-paced development of Jammu and Kashmir, which would also tell the people living under “occupation” in the other parts of the State how they are being destroyed.
Reiterating his Government’s ‘mantra’ of development, Modi said: “we want to take along the youth in our journey of development. If one tunnel can change the lives of people by encouraging and promoting tourism, we propose to construct nine more tunnels.
“This is not only the network of roads that we are spreading in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the network of hearts, which I believe will take forward the development”.
Modi promised to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the development of Jammu and Kashmir and sought the cooperation of the people in this regard.
He showered praises on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and her Government, in which his party, the BJP, is a partner, saying more than half of the Rs 80,000 crore package given by the Centre over a year back has already been spent in such a short span of time.
“Otherwise the packages remain on the papers only,” he said while complimenting the Chief Minister.
Modi said the State had the potential to have the highest Per Capita Income and to realize this, the people need to walk with the Government, shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Development is our only mantra,” he said and emphasized the importance of ‘Jan Bhagidari’ (people’s cooperation) and taking the youth along.
Talking about the 9-km-long ‘Chenani-Nashri Tunnel’, which provides an all-weather route and reduces the distance by 31 kilometers between Jammu and Srinagar, the Prime Minister described it as a “fate line” for the State and said it will take tourism in the Kashmir valley to new heights.
He said nine such tunnels are planned for the State as part of infrastructure development. “Yeh sirf infrastructure network nahi, yeh dilon ko jodne wala network hai (This is a network, not only of infrastructure, but to connect the hearts).”
“The tunnel not only reduces distance between Kashmir and Jammu, it is a long jump for the development of Jammu and Kashmir,” the Prime Minister said.
Elaborating on his “fate line” comment, Modi said the tunnel will greatly benefit the people of Kashmir, particularly the farmers who would suffer losses because their produce like fruits and vegetables would perish due to prolonging of their journeys from the Valley to other parts of the country.
“The (Kashmir-Jammu) Highway would be closed for days due to landslides and as a result the produce of the farmers would perish before reaching the market. So this tunnel is a boon for the farmers. Now, their produce, their fruits, vegetables will reach Delhi in time and they will no more suffer financial losses,” Modi said.
Another benefit of the world-class tunnel, he said, was that tourist flow to the Kashmir valley can increase as the travellers will no longer have to worry about getting stranded on the highway because of landslides.
Modi added that the tunnel will be a matter of discussion for environmentalists, not only in India but across the world, since it has been built by cutting through the mighty Himalayas.
“For the environmentalists, it is a big news and hope,” he added.
Noting that every India has a dream of visiting Kashmir at least once in a life time, Modi said: “we have taken the task of building infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir to boost tourism. The more the tourism increase, the more Jammu and Kashmir economy will develop”.
Addressing the rally, Union Minister for Roads and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that after the commissioning of Chenani-Nashri tunnel, his Ministry has approved Ring Road for Jammu at the cost of Rs 2100 crores and Ring Road for Srinagar at the cost of Rs 2200 crores. He said tender has been floated for Ring Road for Jammu while for the Ring Road Srinagar, the tender will be out in next two months. The work will start in the next two months.
He said that tender for Rs 6000 crores Zojila tunnel to make Srinagar-Leh and all season highway will be issued in the next two months.
Gadkari said Rs 7000 crores worth developmental works will be executed in Jammu and Kashmir during next two years.
The Union Minister said Rs 4463 crores worth projects have been completed in J&K while Rs 7094 crore worth works were on.
Declaring that NDA Government led by Narendra Modi was committed to development of infrastructure in the entire country, Gadkari said “it was immaterial for our Government whether we are in power in the State or not. Our motto is equal development of all the States”.
He said the Centre Government was doing the works, which have not been done in the past 50 years. He added that tourism in Jammu and Kashmir will double with the opening of Chenani-Nashri tunnel.
Union Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh said the entire country has started marched towards development and Jammu and Kashmir has also become a part of it with large number of developmental projects taken in the State and inauguration of Chenani-Nashri tunnel was just e beginning.
Describing Narendra Modi as most popular leader of the world in 21st century, Dr Singh said the Prime Minister is the architect of New India and many works in Udhampur have been done only with the news of his arrival to the district.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who mixed his speech in Dogri and Hindi said Rs 170.5 crore worth Devika river cleaning project, Radio Station, Passport Office and Sports Stadium were only to name a few in Udhampur and many more works were in the offing.
Asserting that he didn’t want to stay for long between Modi and the public as people were waiting for hours together to list to the Prime Minister, Dr Singh said the entire country is marching to the path of development under the stewardship of Modi.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh presented vote of thanks in which he mentioned several development works taken up in Jammu and Kashmir and lauded the help being extended by the Government of India.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the country’s longest road tunnel that links Kashmir valley with Jammu by an all-weather route and reduces the distance by 31 kilometers.
The 9-km long ‘Chenani-Nashri Tunnel’, built at the cost of Rs 2,500 crore, was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister here in presence of Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
After the inauguration, Modi, along with Vohra and Mehbooba, travelled in an open jeep through the tunnel for some distance. In the second jeep, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Dr Jitendra Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh travelled.
The Prime Minister, the Governor and the Chief Minister then posed for a photograph with the engineers who were involved in construction of the tunnel.
The tunnel, bypassing snow-bound upper reaches, will reduce the journey time by two hours and provide a safe, all- weather route to commuters travelling from Jammu and Udhampur to Ramban, Banihal and Srinagar.
The estimated value of daily fuel savings will be to the tune of Rs 27 lakh.
The tunnel is equipped with world-class security systems, and is expected to boost tourism and economic activities in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The key features of the tunnel are that it is a single-tube bi-directional tunnel, with a 9.35-metre carriageway, and a vertical clearance of 5 meters.
There is also a parallel escape tunnel, with ‘Cross Passages’ connecting to the main tunnel at intervals of 300 meters.
It also has smart features such as an Integrated Traffic Control System; Surveillance, Ventilation and Broadcast Systems; Fire Fighting System; and SOS call-boxes at every 150 meters.
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