Chennai, Oct 10:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Chennai on a day-long whistle-stop tour on Sunday and participate in a series of programmes, including inauguration of the first stretch of the Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase-II and take a metro ride with Chief Minister Vijay.
Mr Modi will arrive at the Chennai airport from Delhi at 1055 hrs and after a brief reception during which he would be received by BJP Tamil Nadu unit leaders, he would leave for Poonamallee Metro station from where he would take a Metro Train ride till Porur Metro station with Vijay, who will be sharing the dais with the Prime Minister in an event for the first time after becoming CM.
From Porur Metro, he would drive down to IIT-Madras where he would attend a slew of functions that included walkthrough of Brain Centre, interaction with Founder of top 10 Startups and with BPL/Divyang children.
Later at a public function at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Ground at the IIT-Madras campus, Mr Modi would inaugurate the Chennai Metro Phase-II, Golden Jubilee celebrations of Sankar Eye Centre at Coimbatore via video-conferencing, launch of Brain Atlas and “100 Humans Brains” Mission, inaugurate music maestro Ilayaraja Centre of Excellence in Music, besides laying foundation stone and inaugurate/dedicate to the Nation various projects in Chennai and address the gathering.
After having darshan and offering special poojas at the Jalakandeswarar Siva temple in the campus, he would drive down to the sprawling Chennai Trade Centre at Nandambakkam where he would take part in the Golden jubilee fete of the Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya.
After the event, he would drive down to Chennai airport and leave for the National capital around 1730 hrs.
Security has been tightened across the city in view of Mr Modi’s visit and all the route to be travelled by him was declared as “Red Zone” and flying of drones and UAVs were banned. A five-tier security arrangement has been put in palce More than 20,000 police personnel were deployed on security duty. As part of heightened security measures were put in place at railway stations, metro rail stations and bus terminals across this teeming megapolis. Greater Chennai City police Commissioner A.Amalraj also chaired a review meeting with higher police officials and discussed the security arrangements.
The main event of Mr Modi’s itinerary was the launch of 14.64 km first stretch as part of Phase-2 of Chennai Metro Rail project and taking a ride with the Chief Minister
Seven months after getting all regulatory clearances, the first operational stretch of Chennai Metro’s Phase-II expansion is all set for launch by the Prime Minister. The 14.64-km Poonamallee-Vadapalani corridor has been completed with 11 elevated stations. The Chennai Metro Rail Corporation has completed the required testing and obtained the necessary approvals following an inspection by the Commissioner of Railway Safety.
The section, part of Corridor-4 or the Yellow Line, runs between Poonamallee Bypass and Vadapalani and is the first segment of the Phase-II network to receive approval for commercial operations. The commissioner of Metro Railway Safety cleared the stretch for operations in February, paving the way for the launch.
The line will eventually form part of a larger east-west metro link connecting the rapidly expanding western suburbs with the rest of Chennai’s public transport network. The opening is expected to provide an alternative to the increasingly congested arterial roads in the western part of the city, while also improving connectivity to existing metro services.
The stretch forms part of the 26-km Lighthouse-Poonamallee corridor under Phase-II, which is being developed as part of the 118.9-km Phase II project across three corridors. Trial runs, including checks of signalling, track performance, train operations and structural safety, have already been completed.
The service was earlier expected to be opened in February, but the inauguration was delayed while awaiting confirmation of the Prime Minister’s schedule.