Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated and laid foundation stone for projects worth Rs 32,500 crore here.
These included foundation-laying of the ambitious Regional Rail Transport System (RRTS) that would connect Delhi and Meerut via Ghaziabad, inauguration of a civil terminal building at the Hindon airport and an extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line.
"The RRTS is being built at a cost of more than Rs 30,000 crore. Once work on the country's first RRTS is completed, the distance between Delhi and Meerut could be covered in just one hour," Modi told the gathering.
The extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line, inaugurated by the prime minister in Ghaziabad, would now connect Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) to Dilshad Garden in Delhi, while the civil terminal building at the Hindon Airport would facilitate commercial flights, as the aerodrome was only for Indian Air Force operations.
The prime minister also inaugurated two model inter-colleges, one for boys and one for girls, in Loni town area, drinking water plant, sewage treatment facility and 180 houses built under the government's Aasra residential scheme in Ghaziabad city.
Modi also laid foundation stone for multiple development projects in Union minister and BJP leader V K Singh's Lok Sabha constituency. The projects included an Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS), the first phase of a 45-metre wide northern peripheral road and outer ring road, among others.
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Ghaziabad is known for its 3Cs connectivity, cleanliness and capital. Earlier, the region in western Uttar Pradesh had a bad reputation, but it now has good air, rail and road connectivity, the prime minister said.
The second 'c' stands for cleanliness, which has been testified by recent cleanliness rankings of cities in which Ghaziabad occupied 13th rank, up from 351st rank in 2017, Modi said and termed it a "huge jump" while crediting people, the district administration and the state government for it.
The third 'c' is capital, the prime minister said, referring to the district being known as an industrial and business hub.
He said the connectivity projects will not only provide employment opportunities but also help thousands of commuters.
"People rue that they work in office for eight to nine hours and travelling takes another two to three hours... With improved road and metro rail connectivity, people's suffering due to travelling will reduce," Modi said.
The prime minister said the plan for a civil terminal at Hindon airport was conceived eight months ago and it has come up within a short time, just like a similar facility came up in Allahabad within 11 months.
"These airports have been connected with UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. Even people wearing slippers will now be able to afford flight journeys," he said.
"Our government has worked on two approaches strengthening the country's infrastructure and helping the common man," Modi said.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said earlier in western Uttar Pradesh "women's safety was in shambles, sugarcane farmers were not getting their dues, crime was rampant, communal riots were witnessed and there was loot in the name of development".
"But now, all this has changed and we have been able to transform not only Uttar Pradesh but the entire country under the Modi government," he told the gathering.