Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day Gujarat visit, inaugurated the ‘Sudarshan Setu’, the bridge linking the Okha mainland to the Beyt Dwarka island. Constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 980 crore, the 2.5 km cable-stayed bridge is the longest in India.
Beyt Dwarka is an island near Okha port, which is nearly 30 km from Dwarka town, where the famous Dwarkadhish temple of Lord Krishna is situated. Devotees visiting the temple at Beyt Dwarka could travel only during the day by boat. The new bridge will allow them to travel at all times, officials said. PM Modi intends to visit the temple and interact with people there later in the day.
Here are a few salient features of the Sudarshan Setu.
The four-lane 27.20-m wide bridge has 2.50-m wide footpaths on each side
The Sudarshan Setu is India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, with solar panels installed on the upper portions of the footpath, generating one megawatt of electricity
The bridge features a pedestrian path embellished with verses from the Bhagavad Gita and depictions of Lord Krishna.
Originally dubbed the ‘Signature Bridge,’ the structure has been renamed ‘Sudarshan Setu’ or Sudarshan Bridge, District Magistrate (DM) GT Pandya told news agency PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the bridge in October 2017.
The Sudarshan Setu was built at a cost of ₹978 crore.
The Okha-Beyt Dwarka Signature Bridge will also serve as a place of tourist attraction.
PM Modi will also launch the state’s first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rajkot on Sunday. This will be one of the five AIIMS to be dedicated to the nation by the prime minister from Rajkot on February 25, the minister said.
Built at the cost of Rs 1,195 crore and spread across 201 acres, Rajkot AIIMS is a world-class hospital with 720 beds, including ICU and super-specialty beds. On February 25, the prime minister will inaugurate 23 operation theatres, 30-bed AYUSH block and 250 beds of IPD. The remaining beds will be made available gradually
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