RSS chief arrives in Varanasi; Temple city gears up for Modi's visit

Varanasi, Nov 11: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat arrived in the temple city on Sunday for six day high-level meeting of the Sangh functionaries, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit tomorrow.

Varanasi has been decked up for the visit of its local MP and Prime Minister Modi here to lay foundation and inaugurate developmental projects worth over Rs 2,400 crore.

Security has been tightened in the city in view of both the programmes while Special Protection Group (SPG) has taken over the security of the venues to be visited by the PM from the local police.

The entire city has been decked up and cleaned in view of the PM's visit and beautiful lighting with LED have been made on the two highways to be inaugurated by Mr Modi and at the Multi Model terminal at Ramnagar, where the inland waterways service would be launched.

"I look forward to being in Kashi to inaugurate development projects that will have a transformative impact on the city and the rest of Uttar Pradesh, especially Poorvanchal," PM Modi said in a series of tweets on the eve of his arrival to the city.

The Prime Minister is slated to inaugurate the Ring Road and Babatpur Airport Road in Varanasi besides dedicate to the Nation the Inland Waterways Terminal on River Ganga.

"Kashi has blessed me with unparalleled affection. I am doing everything possible to transform the ancient city and strengthen it with the modern infrastructure it deserves,' the PM said in another tweet. Besides, he further said,"A major infrastructure project will enhance 'Ease of Living' for the people of Varanasi."

The RSS will be holding a six-day meeting in Varanasi from November 11 to November 16.

Mr Bhagwat will be in Koirajpur to discuss the ideology and nationalism with the RSS workers. The issues of Ram Temple and Lok Sabha will also be discussed. RSS workers from six states along with senior officials of RSS will be attending the meet.

This will be for the first time when Mr Modi and Mr Bhagwat will be in Varanasi together. However, it is not clear whether the RSS chief and PM Modi will meet in Varanasi or not.

Official sources here on Sunday said that security has been spruced up due to the two programmes.

In an official release, the Road and Surface Transport Ministry had said that PM Modi will on Monday dedicate to the nation two important national highways in Varanasi, having a total length of 34 km built at a cost of Rs 1571.95 crore.

It said that the 16.55 km Varanasi Ring Road Phase-I has been completed at a cost of Rs 759.36 crore, while the work of four-laning and construction of 17.25 km Babatput-Varanasi road on NH-56 has cost Rs 812.59 crore.

The Multi Model Terminal, built at a cost of Rs 201 crore, will pave way for the Varanasi-Haldia inland water highway connecting 5 states.

PM Modi will dedicate an inland waterways terminal to the nation on river Ganga in Varanasi. This will be the first of the four multi-modal terminals on River Ganga, which is a part of the World Bank-aided Jal Marg Vikas project of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

Mr Modi will also receive India`s first container vessel that sailed from Kolkata, carrying cargo of PEPSICO (India). The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) vessel, MV Rabindranath Tagore is transporting 16 containers and it will make its return journey with fertilisers from IFFCO.

The multimodal terminals aim to develop the stretch of River Ganga between Varanasi to Haldi for navigation of large vessels up to 1500-2000 tonnes weight, with an objective to promote inland waterways as a cheaper and more environment-friendly means of transport.

The estimated cost of this project is Rs 5,369.18 crore on a 50:50 sharing basis between the Indian government and the World Bank. Apart from this, he will also receive India's First Container Cargo being transported on an Inland Waterway.