Growing population good or bad? PM Narendra Modi's view

PM Narendra Modi said that growing urban population is both an opportunity and a challenge.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that a growing urban population is both an opportunity and a challenge and listed a vision for the growing cities of the country where the government is committed to providing increasingly more green transport, electric buses, electric cars and electric two-wheelers.

The Prime Minister's remarks came at the inauguration of the Pune Metro Rail Project and laid the foundation stone and inaugurated multiple developmental projects in Pune today.

Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, Member of Parliament Prakash Javadekar were among those present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said, "The growing urban population is both an opportunity and a challenge. In order to cope with the growing population in our cities, development of mass transit system is the answer," he said.

He listed a vision for the growing cities of the country where the government is committed to providing increasingly more green transport, electric buses, electric cars and electric two-wheelers. "For smart mobility in every city, people use a single card for all transport facilities.

There should be Integrated Command and Control Center in every city to make the facility smart. Every city should have a modern waste management system to strengthen the circular economy.

There should be enough modern sewage treatment plants to make every city water plus, better arrangements should be made for the conservation of water sources," the Prime Minister elaborated.He also hoped that such cities will have Gobardhan and biogas plants to create wealth from waste. "Energy efficiency measures like the use of LED bulbs should be the hallmark of these cities. AMRUT mission and RERA laws are bringing new strengths in the urban landscape," added PM Modi.

The Pune Metro Rail Project project is an endeavour to provide world-class infrastructure for urban mobility in Pune. The foundation stone of the project was also laid by the Prime Minister on December 24, 2016. The entire project is being built at a total cost of more than Rs 11,400 crore. The Prime Minister also inaugurated and inspected the Exhibition at Garware Metro Station and undertook a metro ride from there to Anandnagar Metro Station.