Prime Minister Narendra Modi will celebrate his 69th birthday on Tuesday
Highlights
- PM's mother lives in Raisin village near Gandhinagar with her younger son
- After meeting with her, PM Modi will fly to Kevadia in Narmada district
- During his tour, the PM is expected to perform a "Maa Narmada Poojan"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who turned 69 today visited the Statue of Unity in his home state of Gujarat. The Statue of Unity, billed as the tallest in the world, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary on October 31 last year.
During his tour, the PM is expected to perform a "Maa Narmada Poojan" and visit the Sardar Sarovar Dam control room. After visiting the Duttatreya Mandir in Garudeshwar village and a children's park, he will address a public meeting at Kevadia, a town approximately 200 km from Ahmedabad.
PM Modi's visit comes as water levels in the Sardar Sarovar Dam, which he inaugurated in 2017, have reached the highest mark of 138.68 metres. The PM will also open the "Namami Narmade Mahotsav".
The dam aims to provide drinking water to 131 urban centres and 9,633 villages (53 per cent of the 18,144 in Gujarat) and irrigation facilities for 18.54 hectares, covering 3,112 villages in 15 districts.
"After visiting the dam site at Kevadiya, the Prime Minister will address a gathering. We are putting up a large dome-like structure to accommodate around 10,000 people who are expected from Narmada, Bharuch and Chhotaudepur districts," a government official said.
The dam visit is expected to be protested by activists from the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), who have demanded the dam be opened after overflow from its backwaters flooded nearly 180 villages in Madhya Pradesh.
Last year, PM Modi celebrated his birthday by spending time with school children from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.