Chennai: Visiting Tamil Nadu as the middle leg of his 3-southern states visit on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the crucial last leg link of the Chennai metro, from AG-DMS to Washermenpet. The state capital gets a complete Metro Phase-1 from Sunday with the airport to Central Station line via Anna Salai.
The Prime Minister also flagged off an ESI hospital in the hosiery and weaver town of Tiruppur, besides mega schemes for the State.
The Prime Minister also laid a foundation stone for modernisation of Chennai International Airport, (Phase-II) besides a new integrated terminal building at Tiruchy airport. More importantly for Chennai commuters, the opening of the last leg 10 km stretch of phase-1 of Chennai Metro linking eight underground stations, including the underground transit hub at Central Metro, facilitated true Metro connectivity for the whole city.
Commuters will be charged Rs 60 for the airport to Central ride while currently they can reach most of the stations with ticket fare of Rs 40 including stations like Thousand Lights, AG-DMS, Teynampet and Nandanam from Central Metro and Airport. Phase-1 connects a portion of North Chennai including Washermenpet and Mannadi via the High Court.
The PM launched the last leg of the Chennai metro rail Phase I and declared open six underground metro stations through video-conferencing from Tiruppur in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
Tiruchy airport can cater to 3,000 passengers:
The Prime Minister who laid a foundation stone for modernisation of Chennai International Airport, (Phase-II) besides a new integrated terminal building at Tiruchy airport, said Tiruchy airport could cater to about 3,000 passengers during peak hours after completion of a new integrated building. At present, the Tiruchy airport caters to only less than 500 passengers during peak hours, he said.
Referring to all such new initiatives which he inaugurated today including the Chennai Metro rail, Mr. Modi said while addressing a rally in Tiruppur that all such initiatives would go a long way in boosting ease of living for the people of Tamil Nadu. On Tiruppur, he said that the city, which has a strong association with the MSME and unorganised sector, would be quite happy to know that the Centre has come up with the '3,000 pension under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Pension Yojana.
Mr. Modi also dedicated BPCL Ennore Coastal installation - state-of-the-art and fully automated oil storage and distribution facilities, with a project cost of '393 crore and a crude oil pipeline from Chennai Port to Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s Manali refinery. The pipeline, built with enhanced safety features, will ensure safe and reliable supply of crude oil and would meet the needs of TN and neighbouring States.
The state-of-the-art ESI hospital will have 100-bed facility and it would cater to the requirement of one-lakh workers and their family members in Tiruppur and surrounding areas covered under the ESI act. The 470-bedded, Chennai, which he also dedicated to the nation, would provide quality treatment on all disciplines of medicine.
