Shivamogga (Karnataka): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on Karnataka tour, inaugurated the Shivamogga Airport terminal, on Monday. After landing at Shivamogga, Modi undertook a walkthrough and inspected the new airport that has been developed at a cost of around Rs 450 crore.
The lotus-shaped Passenger Terminal Building of the airport can handle 300 passengers per hour. The PM earlier arrived in a special airforce flight on Monday to inaugurate the new airport. After which, Modi will fly to Belagavi and arrive at Sambra Airport in Belagavi at 2 pm, from where he will land at KSRP ground by helicopter to attend a mega road show, which is around 10 km from Chennamma circle to to Yeddyurappa Marg.
Apart from inaugurating the new airport, Modi will participate in many programs including laying the foundation for various development projects in Belagavi. Modi will lay the foundation stones for two railway projects namely Shikaripura-Ranebennur new Railway line and Koteganguru Railway coaching depot. The Shivamogga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur new Railway line will be developed at a cost of Rs. 990 crore and will provide enhanced connectivity to Malnad region with Bengaluru-Mumbai mainline. Next, the Koteganguru railway coaching depot in Shivamogga city will be developed at a cost of over Rs 100 crore to help start new trains from Shivamogga as well as decongest maintenance facilities in Bengaluru and Mysuru.
People can watch Modi's road show at eight places where the convoy is expected to make stopovers. At the end of the road show, Modi will release the 13th instalment of around Rs 16,000 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
This apart, the Prime Minister will lay foundation stone for multiple road development projects worth more than Rs 215 crore, including construction of new bypass road for Shikaripura town connecting Byndur Ranebennur, widening of NH-169A from Megaravalli to Agumbe and construction of a new bridge at Bharathipura in Teerthahalli Taluk. He will also unveil and lay the foundation stone of multi-village schemes to the tune of over Rs 950 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Under this, Modi will inaugurate a scheme for Gowthamapura and 127 other villages and lay the foundation stone for three other schemes that will be developed at a total cost of over Rs 860 crore.
The four schemes aim to provide functional household piped water connections that will benefit a total of more than 4.4 lakh people. As many as 44 Smart City projects worth more than Rs 895 crores in Shivamogga will also be inaugurated. The projects include eight smart road packages of 110 km length; integrated command and control centre and multi-level car parking; smart bus shelter projects; intelligent solid waste management system; creation of parks and riverfront development projects, among others.
Modi will dedicate the Belagavi Railway station building to the nation. The building has been redeveloped at an approximate cost of about Rs 190 crore for providing world-class amenities to the passengers. He will also launch the rail line doubling project between Londa-Belagavi worth Rs 930 crores. The project will enhance line capacity along the busy Mumbai-Pune-Hubbali-Bengaluru railway line, leading to promotion of trade, commerce and economic activities in the region. Modi's visit to Shivamogga is the fifth this year. He had come to Hubbali on Jan. 12 to inaugurate the Hubbali Youth Festival.
