PM to visit Shirdi today, launch projects & development schemes in Maha

Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), Oct 26 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive here on Thursday for a few hours to take darshan at the famed Shirdi Saibaba Temple and launch projects worth Rs 7,500 crore fo Maharashtra, officials said on Thursday.

The highlight will be the launch of Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana which will benefit more than 86 lakh farmers in the state by Rs 6,000 per year, and dedicating the Rs. 5,177-crore canal network by consecrating the Nilwande Dam here.

Modi dedicate the left bank of the 85 kms canal of the Nilwande Dam which will provide piped water distribution and benefit 182 villages in six talukas of Ahmednagar and one in adjoining Nashik.

In Shirdi, he will inaugurate the new Darshan Rang Complex inside the Saibaba Temple precincts, offer pooja and take darshan of the Samadhi of Saint Saibaba, revered by all communities.

The complex has state-of-the art facilities for pilgrims including airconditioned rooms, waiting halls, booking facilities, prasad counters, toilets, drinking water, etc. with a combined capacity for 10,000 people,

Later, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects like roads, rails, health and oil in the pilgrim town which will benefit other parts of the state.

They include an AYUSH Hospital in Ahmednagar Government Hospital; electrification of Kurduwadi-Latur 186-km long railway line; the third and fourth railway line of 24.46 km connecting Jalgaon-Bhusawal; the four-lane section between Sangli-Borgaon on the national highway 166; projects at the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Manmad oil terminal; among other projects.

Tight security arrangements have been made by deploying over 5,000 personnel in Shirdi town for the visit and later he will fly to Goa for other engagements there.