New Delhi, November 9: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Monday inaugurated and laid foundation stones for development works worth about ₹1,400 crore in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the Ministry of Home Affairs said. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel attended. About ₹400 crore of the works were completed or begun through the Gujarat Government’s Roads and Buildings Department and the Government of India.
Housing, schools and water
Residents of Ramapir No Tekro are being given flats under a slum rehabilitation scheme. The ministry said that once complete, more than 55,000 people will have social security, recreation, education and healthcare facilities in one complex, and that the scheme aims to rehabilitate nearly one lakh slum dwellers in Ahmedabad.
Two primary schools were inaugurated; the ministry said the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has converted all primary schools in the area into smart schools. The Jalasapur Water Treatment Plant was also inaugurated.
Drainage and a new overbridge
Shah laid the foundation stone of a pump house in the Bopal-Ghuma area to drain rainwater and promised a system to prevent waterlogging before 2029. Work also began on a 4 km ISKCON overbridge, which he said should be a signal-free link completed in three years. He said development works worth ₹25,000 crore have been completed in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in the past seven years.
Drug-free India target
Shah said the Centre aims for a drug-free India by 31 December 2029 and asked Gujarat to reach the goal a year earlier, by 31 December 2028. A control room will start working from 1 December, with action within three hours of receiving information, he said. Reports of drug sale or use can be made on helpline 1033, and identities will be kept confidential.
He said de-addiction centres are being set up, urged teachers to alert parents when they notice behavioural changes in pupils, and administered a pledge to local residents. A joint meeting of the Home Ministry and the Gujarat Home Department held earlier covered the new criminal laws, modernisation of the department and the drug-free goal.
Shah also extended Diwali and Gujarati New Year greetings.
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