THREE days after his vist to Pune was cancelled, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Shivajinagar to Swargate stretch of Pune Metro on Sunday. This time, he will inaugurate the stretch not from Pune but from Delhi through video-conferencing. "The event will be held at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch at 11.30 am. The Prime Minister will join us at 12.30 pm and then inaugurate the Metro stretch," Maha Metro MD Shravan Hardikar said. The Maha Metro service from District Court Shivajinagar to Swargate will then officially open to the public at 4 pm. On Thursday, the Prime Minister had to cancel his visit due to predictions of heavy rain and the fact that the SP College Ground where he was supposed to address a rally had turned slushy. The funtion was slated for the evening of September 26 and the PMO conveyed the cancellation to Maha Metro around 10. 30 am on Thursday. Following the cancellation and the traffic nightmare around the place where the event was to held, there was outrage among citizens. Many questioned the logic behind the Prime Minister inaugurating the same project in parts for the sixth time. Citizens and political parties said the PM could have inaugurated the Metro stretch sitting in Delhi rather than coming all the way and causing inconvenience to citizens. "Where was the need for the PM to inaugurate the same project for a sixth time? He could have easily done it online," Baramati MP Supriya Sule had said. After the event's cancellation, Maha Vikas Aghadi held a protest and tried to inaugurate the project. The MVA demanded that the service should not wait for the Prime Minister to inaugurate it. The Shivajinagar-Swargate stretch's opening will primarily benefit citizens of Pimpri-Chinchwad since reaching Swargate and Katraj area with the current commuting arrangements is an ordeal. It will also benefit those living in Swargate and other parts of Pune city who work in Pimpri-Chinchwad MIDC area. Residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad said they will become "well-connected" with Pune city as their travel time will drastically reduce. Life of citizens in Pune city, especially in Pimpri-Chinchwad, has eased considerably after the first stretch from Phugewadi to Shivajinagar was opened, later to Ramwadi and now Swargate. in the future, the Metro will be further extended up to Nigdi and Katraj, which will further ease commuters' travails from both the cities. Besides inaugurating the Metro stretch Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate various projects to the nation in Maharashtra worth over Rs 11,200 crore at around 12:30 PM on 29 September via video conferencing, a PIB press release said. Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the stretch from District Court to Swargate, which will also mark the completion of Phase 1 of the Pune Metro Rail Project. The cost of the underground section between District Court to Swargate was constructed at a cost of around Rs 1,810 crore. Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the Swargate-Katraj extension of Pune Metro Phase-1, to be developed at a cost of around Rs 2,955 crore. This southern extension of around 5.46 km is completely underground, with three stations, namely Market Yard, Padmavati and Katraj. The PM will dedicate Bidkin Industrial Area, a transformative project covering an expansive 7,855 acres under the National Industrial Corridor Development Program of the Govt. of India, situated 20 kms south of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra. The project developed under Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor holds immense potential as a vibrant economic hub in the Marathwada region. The Centre has approved this project with an overall cost of over Rs. 6,400 crore for development in 3 phases. The PM will inaugurate the Solapur Airport, which will significantly improve connectivity, making Solapur more accessible to tourists, business travellers and investors. The existing terminal building of Solapur has been revamped to serve around 4.1 lakh passengers annually. The PM will also lay the foundation stone for a memorial to Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule’s first girls’ school at Bhidewada, the release added.
