Modi’s 69th B’Day: PM Meets His Mother, Launches ‘Namami Narmade’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns 69 today.

PM Modi with his mother on his 69th birthday.

(Photo: ANI)

Video Producer: Anubhav Mishra

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turns 69 on Tuesday, 17 September, met his mother, Heeraben, in Raisan village.

Earlier during the day, he addressed a rally at Kevadiya in Gujarat at the launch of the 'Namami Narmade' festival after offering prayers to mark the filling up of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on river Narmada to its full reservoir level of 138.68 metres.

However, while he offered prayers at the dam site, the people affected by the project’s reservoir held a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani district.

PM Modi landed at the Ahmedabad airport on Monday night and reached Kevadiya on Tuesday morning, where he visited the Khalvani eco-tourism site.

Khalvani eco-tourism site, Kevadiya

PM Modi looks over at the river rafting sports facility and inspects ongoing work at Jungle Safari in Kevadiya.

PM Modi visits the Cactus Garden in Kevadiya

Khalvani eco-tourism site, Kevadiya

Khalvani eco-tourism site, Kevadiya

PM Modi releases butterflies as a part of his 69th birthday celebration, at Butterfly Garden in Kevadiya

PM Modi being garlanded Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani during a welcome ceremony in Narmada.

PM Modi performing puja at Sardar Sarovar Dam

The PM also tweeted a clip of the Statue of Unity upon reaching Kevadiya.

PM Modi to Review Projects Near Dam, Statue of Unity

PM Modi also reviewed developmental projects near the dam and took stock of its control room.

He also visited the temple of Lord Dattatreya at Garudeshwar village near Kevadiya. Later he is expected to visit the Statue of Unity.

“After his address, PM would inspect some ongoing developmental projects near the dam and the Statue of Unity,” said Narmada district collector, IK Patel.

The Statue of Unity is the world's tallest such structure in the name of the country's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) had in 2014 granted the permission to raise the height of the mega dam to 138.68 metres from 121.92 metres.

The dam aims to provide drinking water to 131 urban centres and 9,633 villages (53 per cent of total 18,144 villages in Gujarat) and irrigation facilities for 18.54 hectares of land, covering 3,112 villages in 15 districts.