PM Modi may join development works in West Bengal via video-conferencing

New Delhi, Dec 30: A host of development programmes, including a Namami Gange meeting and the inauguration of the Vande Bharat train, scheduled to be attended in West Bengal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will be held as per plan, and he may participate via video-conferencing, officials said,as reported by news agency PTI.

'PM @narendramodi will join today's scheduled programmes in West Bengal via video conferencing. These programmes include the launch of key connectivity-related projects and the meeting of the National Ganga Council,'' the PMO tweeted.

The projects that are to be launched include multiple sewerage infrastructure projects worth over Rs 2,550 crore.

The Joka-Taratala stretch of Kolkata Metro's Purple line, and several other railway projects including redevelopment work at the New Jalpaiguri railway station are also supposed to be inaugurated on Friday.

A National Institute of Water and Sanitation named after BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee is to be inaugurated as well.

Modi will virtually chair the second meeting of the National Ganga Council (NGC) in Kolkata.

Development projects worth over Rs 7,800 crore are scheduled to be launched by the prime minister in West Bengal.

A Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah and New Jalpaiguri is also planned to be flagged off.

Since the launch of the Vande Bharat Express trains in 2019, this will be the seventh Vande Bharat Express overall and the first in eastern India. Vande Bharat trains currently travel on six routes linking Delhi to Varanasi (UP), Ambala/Una (Himachal Pradesh), and Katra (Jammu and Kashmir). Chennai-Mysuru, Mumbai-Gandhinagar and Bilaspur-Nagpur are the other three routes.