The Times Of India, 21 Feb 2017, Gandhinagar: Governor O P Kohli tabled his speech in the assembly on Monday in which the initial focus was on quick implementation of the Supreme Court’s order on the Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam and the Statue of Unity.
The governor in his speech on Monday said the government was committed to the speedy implementation of the judgement of the Supreme Court on the Narmada project. The recent judgement will allow the state to close the sluice gates after sanction from the central government. “By this, the government will be able to store three times the present capacity of the Sardar Sarovar.”
The governor said that work on the world’s tallest statue and national monument to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was ongoing and works worth Rs 460 crore had been completed. Outlining the works in progress, the governor said four-laning of 152km of roads leading to the statue is in progress.
The governor’s also spoke of the government’s move to bring in stringent enforcement of the hookah bar ban and prohibition. He said: “The government has made prohibition more stringent expressing commitment to follow Gandhiji’s thoughts. Prohibition is not only a matter of law, but a social issue too. The success of prohibition is dependent on the active concern of socio-religious organization and the positive thinking towards prohibition as much as the efforts of government.”
The speech also mentioned that 10.23 lakh individual toilets have been completed at the cost of Rs 712.62 crore in 2016-17. The speech also dwelled on the construction of canals for the Sardar Sarovar project. The speech stated that canal are a total of 44,555km. Of the total 17.92 lakh hectares to be covered by irrigation, work was complete for for 13.47 lakh hectares.
Web: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/guv-address-focusses-on-narmada/articleshow/57260247.cms