On Sunday, Gujarat’s Sudarshan Setu, a four-lane cable-stayed bridge linking Okha and Beyt Dwarka island, was officially opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An official statement from the Devbhumi Dwarka government states that the bridge is 2.32 kilometers long and has a central 900-meter double-span cable-stayed section as well as a 2.45-kilometer approach road.
Built at a cost of around Rs 979 crore, the bridge is 27.20 metres, and also features 2.50-metre-wide footpaths on either side.
Originally dubbed the ‘Signature Bridge,’ the structure has been renamed ‘Sudarshan Setu’ or Sudarshan Bridge, District Magistrate (DM) GT Pandya told news agency PTI.
The holy Dwarkadhish temple of Lord Krishna is situated in Beyt Dwarka, next to Okha port, some thirty kilometers from Dwarka town. At the moment, pilgrims visiting the Beyt Dwarka shrine are limited to boat rides during the day. But after the bridge is finished, organizers hope that the shrine will be accessible 24/7.
In addition to inaugurating the bridge, Modi will also travel to Dwarka town, where he will pray at the Dwarkadhish temple and speak to a sizable crowd later in the day.
In Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Porbandar districts, the PM is expected to inaugurate and lay the groundwork for a number of projects after the ceremony. These include the electrification of a 533-kilometer railway line and the opening of two offshore pipelines operated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at Vadinar.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also announced that PM Modi will inaugurate five All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campuses in Rajkot (Gujarat), Bathinda (Punjab), Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh), Kalyani (West Bengal), and Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh) during a public event in Rajkot.
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