Modi lashed out at the opposition party, which led the coalition government in the Center during 2004-14, after inaugurating the strategic 9.02 km. Atal tunnel, the longest road tunnel in the world that reduces the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km and the travel time between four and five hours.
He cited a number of strategically important projects, from the Atal tunnel to the runway in Daulat Beg Oldi on the production of Ladakh and Texas fighter jets, to claim that they were delayed or almost forgotten and questioned about what “compulsion” and “pressure” might have been behind, without directly naming Congress.
His government, the prime minister said, has deployed all its strength to develop border infrastructure, adding that never before has work been done on such a large scale, whether in the construction of roads, bridges or tunnels.
For a long time, he said, border projects were never able to get out of the planning stage, and those that did have stalled or stayed on the back burner.
The then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee he had inaugurated the access road to the Atal tunnel in 2002, but the project was almost forgotten after his administration left, Modi said, pointing to the congressional-led dispensation of UPA.
Work on just 1,300 meters was completed in 2013-14, he noted, adding that the project would have been completed by 2040 at this rate before his government took over in 2014 and accelerated it at an unprecedented rate.
“Our government increased the construction rate from 300 meters / year to 1400 meters / year and completed the project in 2020,” Modi said.
In just six years the government completed the 26-year job, he said.
Like the Atal tunnel, this treatment was applied to several of those projects, the prime minister said, adding that the Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip remained closed for four to five decades.
“There was no political will. I can talk about dozens of projects that are important from a strategic point of view, but for years they were neglected,” he said, lashing out at previous governments led by Congress.
“Nothing is more important to us than the national interest and the protection of the country, but the nation has seen an era in which defense interests were compromised,” he said, in an apparent blow to the opposition party.
In this context, he also referred to the Kosi mega bridge in Bihar, which was planned by the Vajpayee government and inaugurated by him last month.
The decisions of our government are a testimony that it does what it says, he said.
His government has carried out major reforms so that defense equipment can be manufactured in “Make in India,” he said, adding that meeting defense needs is his government’s top priority.
Speaking of the inauguration of the Atal Tunnel, Modi said that it is a historic day, as not only was the former prime minister’s dream fulfilled, but the decades-long wait of the people of the state also ended.
The tunnel will be a lifeline not only for Himachal Pradesh but also for Leh-Ladakh, he said.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on the occasion highlighted the tunnel’s strategic importance and said it will facilitate the deployment of soldiers and the movement of weapons and rations. It will also be of great help to people and the tourism sector, he said.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were also present on the occasion.
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