INDIA: Good Roads Boost Tourism In Himachal Pradesh

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said Himachal Pradesh (HP) was a favourite destination for tourists and good roads would boost the tourism industry in the state.

After laying foundation stones for three road projects, Gadkari said the Centre had decided that road construction work would be started only after acquiring 80% land and thanked the HP government for taking up acquisition and forest clearances work expeditiously.

The state has 2,630 km-long national highways and projects worth Rs 50,000 crore would be started in next two years, the Union Minister for Surface Transport and Highways said.

Gadkari said works would also be allotted to small contractors in the state at the request of HP government.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who presided over the programme, said roads were major mode of connectivity in hill states like Himachal Pradesh and its first Chief Minister Dr Y S Parmar considered these as life lines for the role they played in strengthening the economy.

At present, there were 35,000 km motorable roads in the state, 3,120 panchayats were connected by road while the remaining panchayats would be connected soon, he said.

State Public Works Department would spend Rs 3,054 crore on roads this year, he said, adding 1,933 out of 2,354 sanctioned projects had been completed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna during the last three years.

Eight out of 10 projects sanctioned under World Bank Road Project had also been completed, the Chief Minister added.

Gadkari laid foundation stones for projects including four-laning of Parwanoo-Solan block on National Highway 22 (now National Highway 5), Solan-Kaithalighat block and Shimla bypass.

The Union Minister announced upgrading of several roads as national highways.

Later, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and JP Nadda, who arrived at Sundernagar by road, inaugurated the Mandi-Bajaura road and laid foundation stone of Nerchowk-Manali four lane road, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore.