Mandi, February 4
Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various development projects worth Rs 107.30 crore at Thalout and Shivabdar in the Drang Assembly constituency of Mandi district yesterday.
Vikramaditya, while addressing a public meeting at Thalaut, said, “The natural beauty of the state is our heritage from the tourism point of view. It is the collective responsibility of all of us to preserve it. Along with progress, it is important to take care of nature. Development should not happen at the cost of nature. Even if tough decisions have to be taken for this, the government will not hesitate to do so.”
He laid the foundation stone of a 85-m bridge to be built on the Panjaithachi-Shattadhar-Lambathach road at Thalaut under the Central Road Fund scheme at a cost of Rs 14.60 crore. At Thalout, the minister performed the bhumi pujan of the work to upgrade the Panarsa-Kot-Dhalayara road, Panarsa-Sojha-Rahadi road and Nagwain-Palsehar-Kathiyari road under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-III.
The minister inaugurated the Jawalapur-Parashar road constructed at a cost of Rs 17.18 crore. He laid the foundation stone of the work to upgrade the Pandoh-Nagdhar and Nagdhar-Shiva roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-III at Shivabdar at a cost of Rs 15 crore.
He said, “Development works are being accelerated with better financial management. The state government is undertaking development by rising above party politics. Solar power will prove to be a game-changer for the state in the coming times. The state government is working seriously in this direction. The Central Government has also taken steps in this direction in the Budget. This will also prevent the crisis of climate change.”
The minister added that the construction of the building of Panarsa College would be completed soon.
Vikramaditya responded to former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s statement about buildings constructed during his tenure. He said, “These buildings have become white elephants and turned into ruins. If Jai Ram Thakur had made a proper budget provision for the construction of these buildings, these would not have been in this condition today. For political gains, Thakur made announcements without budget in the past six months of his tenure.”
HPCC president Pratibha Singh and Senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur also spoke on the occasion.
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