During his trip to Mandi, Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had to travel by road for a considerable distance and encounter the deplorable state of roads and National Highways, particularly the Kiratpur — Manali section of the National Highway.
He bore the brunt of bad roads during his 5-day whirlwind tour of Mandi district and was shocked to see the roads fractured by big potholes. He warned the PWD and NHAI officials in charge of Himachal Pradesh at a public meeting held at Kansa on Monday evening and directed them to repair the roads on a war-footing.
Earlier in the morning he had summoned the top NHAI officials posted in the State and asked them to repair the roads without further delay as the tourist season had already started and there was huge rush of tourists to Himachal Pradesh in the wake of the fact that Jammu & Kashmir had been ravaged by the devastating floods and the increased threat to the lives of tourists by Pakistan aided terrorists intruding the border State of India.
He said the State Government had released a sum of Rs19 crore for the repairs of the roads and there was no paucity of funds for the repairs and maintenance of the National Highways. “Officials must realise
that tourism was one of the mainstays of the State Government and they should work with dedication and missionary zeal,” he stressed.
The Chief Minister announced that guidelines were being issued in a day or two to the PWD and NHAI engineers for time bound repairs of the roads on a war-footing. The matter had also been brought to the notice of Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, who represents Himachal Pradesh in the Union Cabinet.
Singh announced the opening of SDM office at Ner Chowk in Balh Constituency. It is interesting that now between Mandi and Sundernaar, a distance of 22 kms, the number of SDM offices had gone up to 3 which seemed to be an exercise in futility and an avoidable burden on the State exchequer of a State struggling to attain economic viability.
The Chief Minister during his tour of Mandi laid total 35 foundation stones and performed inaugurations.
Virbhadra Singh also laid the foundation stone of Rs11.30 crore lift drinking water supply scheme of Rewalsar — a sacred triveni of Budhism, Hinduism and Sikhism.
Prakash Chaudhary, Excise and Taxation Minister brought to the notice of the Chief Minister the problems of the Balh Valley.