Auditorium project hangs fire for 8 years

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 15

The construction of a multi-storey auditorium building at Rajiv Gandhi Post Graduate Ayurvedic College, Paprola, is hanging fire for the past eight years. The then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had laid the foundation stone of the project, but the construction work could not be completed over the last eight years.

The Department of Ayurveda had awarded the construction work of the auditorium building to the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA), a government undertaking. However, HIMUDA left the project midway as the Department of Ayurveda failed to release funds in time. Meanwhile, the cost of construction of the project shot up substantially. In 2014, the project was expected to cost Rs 2 crore. However, as per the new plan, the cost of construction is likely to touch Rs 6 crore.

Rajiv Gandhi Post Graduate Ayurvedic College, Paprola, a deemed university, is the only institution in the state offering higher studies in Ayurveda.