Navi Mumbai: Locals travel from across Maharashtra to see PM Modi

Most of those who travelled from various parts of the state to catch a glimpse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Navi Mumbai International Airport site were clueless about the event that preceded the gathering with several telling midday they had come all the way because the PM was visitingEntering 12 buses that were heading towards the spot from areas such as Nashik Airoli Beed and Palghar midday interacted with several such citizens Surprisingly it was found out that most of the travellers were clueless about the event as several told midday they had come all this way just because the Prime Minister was visitingVisitors make their way to the site of the Navi Mumbai airport to attend the gathering addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday PicsSayyed Sameer AbediVikas Singh who hails from Airoli said ldquoI am a Modi bhakt The only reason I am visiting Navi Mumbai is to see the Prime Minister and hear what he has to say in personrdquoSuresh Pal a BJP worker travelling from Airoli said ldquoWe are enthusiastic about seeing and hearing the Prime Minister in person The PM will guide us and will always follow in his footstepsrdquoShobha More and Sunanda Amilpura who walked 25 km to reach the gathering spotIt was also observed that the visitors were made to walk for over two kilometres to reach the dome raised for the public where the Prime Minister addressed the gathering A group of travellers from Palghar told midday ldquoOur bus was stopped away from the gathering dome We had to walk for over a kilometre just to reach the gatheringrdquoSunanda Amilpura from Osmanabad said ldquoWe are here from 1 pm We had to walk for more than 25 kilometres just to reach the gathering spotrdquoSuresh Pal BJP worker from Airoli right Vikas Singh Airoli nativeThe visitors however were relieved that there were an adequate number of washrooms One of them Shobha More said Walking for an extended duration is not new to us We always have to walk for water to faroff distances The thing I found very reassuring was the availability of washrooms The fact that mobile washrooms were made available was enough for us to travel the distance to see our Prime MinisterSeating arrangements had been made for a lakh people at the venue while breakfast and water were provided to allGayatri Wagle from Maval village said We started our journey at 8 am reaching here around 2 pm On our arrival tea and breakfast were provided and later we were allowed to enter the gathering spotrdquoDelay and exitsA group was seen exiting the location from gate number 1 around 525 pm even before the Prime Minister addressed the crowd or inaugurated projectsA police officer while trying to rein in the masses at the gate said ldquoMany people have left the venue for some reason or the other We are making sure a stampedelike situation doesnrsquot ariserdquoA person requesting anonymity said ldquoI had come here to listen to Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos speech I heard him which is more than enough Now I can go home without any other thing to take from here Already the gathering was way too delayed It was said to start by 415 pm but it started around 445 pm and even now at 540 pm the Prime Minister hasnrsquot spoken This is too much as the gathering was said to end by 530 pmrdquoDue to the delay several people were seen leaving the venue as the Prime Minister was addressing the crowd415 pmTime event was to start530 pmTime event was to endProjects PM inaugurated apart from MTHL Surya regional water supply scheme phase1 This phase of the project aims to provide water to VasaiVirar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC KharkoparUran Phasell The new 1460km double line section of the KharkoparUran line is part of the 27km double line project of the BelapurSeawoodUran section Digha railway station between Thane and Airoli on TransHarbour Line A new suburban station is being opened for the benefit of people from the area The station is between Thane and Airoli ie 32 km from Thane and 26 km from Airoli It is the part of Airoli Kalva elevated corridor work being done by MRVC under MUTPII scheme 6th line between Khar Road and Goregaon railway stations The line was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister during the public gathering The PM also performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the 92km underground road tunnel between Orange Gate and Marine Drive