India’s 130 crore people are my proof, stop pleasing Pakistan: PM Modi in Ghaziabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed those have been demanding evidence of the IAF air strike on terror camps in Pakistan’s Balakot area, saying 130 crore people of India who support the government are his proof and asked the opposition to stop amusing Pakistan. Modi, while addressing a public gathering in Ghaziabad, said Pakistan itself tweeted at 5am that there was an airstrike. He said Pakistan is not a fool that it will lie about the airstrikes. "If Pakistan itself admitted about the airstrikes then why is the Opposition raising such questions," he said. I would request such people to stop amusing Pakistan with such statements, he added while launching civilian flight operations at Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad. The airbase was earlier used for Air Force operations only.

Modi also inaugurated the 9.4-km-long Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line. With this new section, entirely elevated, the Delhi Metro forayed into the interiors of Ghaziabad for the first time, touching the industrial areas in twin cities of Ghaziabad and Sahibabad.

Ghaziabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off metro services (extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line ) between Dilshad Garden in Delhi to New Bus Adda in Ghaziabad. pic.twitter.com/UqXcrNDHW0

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"Passenger services on the Red Line extension from Dilshad Garden to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) in Ghaziabad will start from 8 am on Saturday," DMRC's Executive Director for Corporate Communications Anuj Dayal said.

Two of the eight stations on the Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section have been renamed in the honour of the country's fallen heroes.

"The Rajendra Nagar Metro station has been rechristened as Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar station and the end station New Bus Adda has been renamed to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda)," a senior DMRC official said.

The other six stations on the stretch are -- Shahid Nagar, Raj Bagh, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala and Hindon River.

This section is an extension of the 25.09-km Rithala-Dilshad Garden corridor or Red Line, which has 21 stations. After opening of this section, the entire Red Line now spans 34.72 km.

"Trains will be available at peak hour frequency of six minutes and 12 seconds on the Dilshad Garden New Bus Adda section. A total of 35 six-coach trains will be used on the entire Rithala New Bus Adda Red corridor. The total journey from Dilshad Garden to New Bus Adda will take about 16 minutes," Dayal said.

"All the station buildings have at least two Ticket Office Machine counters with one counter located at a lower height for facility of differently-abled commuters," the DMRC said.

This would be the second metro corridor in Ghaziabad after the Blue Line which links Delhi to the neighbouring city, with stations at Kaushambi and Vaishali. The extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line will connect residents of Ghaziabad to with various parts of the National Capital Region.

"Currently, commuters have to rely on other modes of transport from Dilshad Garden to reach Sahibabad and further to Ghaziabad. Now with extension of metro, connectivity to Mohan Nagar from Dilshad Garden could also improve considerably," he told reporters during a preview of the new corridor.

After the opening of this section, the total network of the Delhi Metro now spans 336.6 km with 244 metro stations. The DMRC's span in Uttar Pradesh is now 52.85 km.

The non-stop traffic on the G T Road was a major challenge while constructing this section.

The DMRC carried out most of the construction activities and launching operations "during the night for 4-5 hours", Dayal said.

Out of the eight stations on this section, six stations - Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, and New Bus Adda - have buildings on both sides of the main highway and platforms on the central verge along the viaduct i.e. those platforms are not a part of the station buildings but separate.

"In other stations on our network, the station buildings and platforms are built together. In those six stations of the new corridor, the concourse level and station platforms are interconnected through foot over bridges (FOBs)," a senior official said.

The Shaheed Nagar Station has only one station building on a side, while the other side is connected through lifts and a staircase for commuters to reach from road-level to station building.

At all stations (except Hindon River) an FOB at concourse level consists of paid and unpaid sections for the use of metro commuters and the general public respectively.

At Hindon River station, the FOB is common for both metro commuters and general public.

(With PTI inputs)