Itanagar/Agartala, Sep 16 After a two-day visit to Manipur, Mizoram and Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now be visiting Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura on September 22, officials said on Tuesday.
An official in Itanagar said that during a day’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister will launch projects worth several thousand crores. He will lay the foundation stones for the 1,830-km Frontier Highway project, two hydroelectric projects, and launch the second phase of the Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) from Itanagar’s Indira Gandhi Park, where he is likely to address a big public gathering.
He will also virtually inaugurate an integrated convention centre at Tawang.
According to the official, the proposed Frontier Highway project will run parallel to the McMahon Line, from Bomdila in West Kameng district to Vijaynagar in Changlang district. The ambitious highway will boost national security and greatly facilitate border connectivity, the official said.
He said that the Prime Minister will also virtually lay the foundation stone for the 186-MW Tato-I hydroelectric project and the 240-MW Heo hydroelectric project over the Yarjep River in Shi Yomi district. After the completion of the second phase of the VVP, 122 border villages will get all-weather roads, 4G telecom network, and on-grid electrification.
Of the 122 villages, 67 are located along the India-Myanmar border, and 55 are along the India-Bhutan border with Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministry of Home Affairs had sanctioned Rs 2,205 crore for the VVP.
The VVP would help in the comprehensive development of the villages located in the blocks abutting international land borders (ILBs), other than the Northern border already covered under VVP-I. With a total outlay of Rs 6,839 crore, the programme shall be implemented in select strategic villages in the states/UTs of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal till the FY 2028-29.
The objective of the programme is to create better living conditions and adequate livelihood opportunities to ensure prosperous and safe borders, control trans-border crime and assimilate the border population with the nation and inculcate them as ‘eyes and ears of the border guarding forces’, crucial for internal security.
The official said that various arrangements, including beautification of roads, making of stages, are going in full swing. Security has been beefed up in the capital city ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.
On the same day (September 22), from Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister will visit Tripura.
In Agartala, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said the Prime Minister will inaugurate the redeveloped Tripura Sundari temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas worshipped by Hindus, in southern Tripura’s Udaipur on September 22.
CM Saha said the Prime Minister will arrive in Agartala on the afternoon of September 22 and then go to Gomati district headquarters, Udaipur, to inaugurate the redeveloped Tripura Sundari temple, 65 km south of Agartala.
“After inaugurating the redeveloped temple and the beautified surroundings, PM Modi will offer puja at the Kali temple. After the inauguration and the puja, he will return to Agartala and then leave for Delhi. There will be no public address by the Prime Minister as per the schedule available as of now,” the Chief Minister told the media.
He said: “I had earlier invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate the redeveloped temple.”
The official of the Tourism Department said that under the PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme of the Union Tourism Ministry, the 524-year-old Tripura Sundari temple has been redeveloped at a cost of over Rs 52 crore. The Tripura government also contributed Rs 7 crore to this project.
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