- He also flagged off the 7th Vande Bharat Express from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri station and inaugurated the Joka-Taratala-stretch of the Purple Line of Kolkata Metro.
- He also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station.
- PM also stated about the world’s longest river cruise ‘Ganga vilas’ which set sail on 13th January 2023 to cover a distance of 3200 km from Kashi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh.
Key People:
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister (CM) of West Bengal, Dr C V Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal, Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaisnav, Union Ministers of State, John Barla, Dr Subhas Sarkar and Shri Nisith Parmanik and Member of Parliament, Prasoon Banerjee were those present on occasion among others.
4 Railway Projects:
- Boinchi – Shaktigarh 3rd Line developed at a cost of Rs 405 crore
- the Dankuni – Chandanpur 4th Line Project was developed at a cost of Rs 565 crore
- Nimtita – New Farakka Double Line developed at a cost of Rs 254 crore
- Ambari Falakata – New Maynaguri – Gumanihat Doubling Project developed at a cost of more than Rs 1080 crore.
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station to be developed at the cost of more than Rs 335 crore.
7th Vande Bharat Express:
i.The Vande Bharat Express is an ultra-modern Semi High-Speed Train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities.
ii.The 7th Vande Bharat Express will stop at Malda Town, Barsoi and Kishanganj stations en route in both directions.
Joka-Esplanade Metro Project (Purple Line):
i.The Esplanade Metro Project (Purple Line) 6.5 km stretch has 6 stations namely Joka, Thakurpukur, Sakher Bazar, Behala Chowrasta, Behala Bazar and Taratala.
ii.The project was constructed at a cost of more than Rs 2475 Crore.
iii.The project benefits the Passengers of southern parts of Kolkata City like Sarsuna, Dakghar, Muchipara and South 24 Parganas.
Key Points:
i.PM Modi informed that more than 25 sewage projects have been approved in West Bengal under the Namami Gange Scheme.
- Around 11 projects are already completed and 7 projects were completed on 30th December 2022.
ii.The government is working on 5 new schemes with an outlay of Rs 1500 crore.
iii.One of the key projects, is the Adi Ganga project for cleaning of which infrastructure worth Rs 600 crore is being established.
iv.Along with cleaning rivers, the government of India has focussed on prevention which revolves around creating a large number of modern sewage treatment plants. This is being done keeping in mind the requirements of the next 10-15 years.
About West Bengal:
Chief Minister– Mamata Banerjee
Governor– Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose
National Parks– Singalila National Park; Neora Valley National Park
Tiger Reserve– Buxa Tiger Reserve; Sundarban Tiger Reserve
