Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said the state government is taking steps to promote eco-tourism in Banjar area in Kullu district.

“The Banjar valley has immense potential from a tourism point of view. To promote eco-tourism in the area, the state government has started online booking facilities for Forest Rest Houses at Soza and Jibhi,” he said.

Thakur, who dedicated developmental projects worth about Rs 73 crore in Banjar Vidhan Sabha constituency of Kullu district through video conferencing from Shimla, laid foundation stones of helipad  in Banjar area to be constructed with a cost of Rs 2.90 crore.

He said that the rest house would provide better facilities to the locals as well as tourists visiting this beautiful area.

Thakur said the people of Banjar Assembly constituency have made tremendous contributions during COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that people not only donated generously towards the HP SDMA COVID-19 State Disaster Response Fund, but also prepared and distributed face masks to the needy.

The CM dedicated lift irrigation scheme Reri, Mashanga, Dogadhar in Bhuntar tehsil completed by spending Rs 1.40 crore which would benefit a population of about 1900 persons.

He laid foundation stones of lift irrigation schemes online, which would provide irrigation facilities to 567 hectares, 450 hectares, 343 hectares and 128 hectares of land respectively. He said that although the cases of COVID-19 in the state have gone up, still the situation was better as compared to most of the states. He said that all the cases in the state were those coming from other states and were in institutional quarantine and people need not to worry.

Horticulture and Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh Thakur said that the achievements of the State had been ranked as the best in the country under the Jal Jeevan Mission and credit of this goes to the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. He said that about Rs 15,000 crore was lying unspent in the state with various departments. He said that the Chief Minister has directed the officers to ensure that this amount was utilized for development of the state.

Transport and Forest Minister Govind Thakur said that the whole world was today fighting the coronavirus and the number of such cases in Himachal Pradesh was one of the lowest.

He said that credit for this goes to the farsighted leadership of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur for taking effective decisions to check the spread of this virus.

He said that the state government not only brought back lakhs of stranded Himachalis from different parts of the country, but also ensured proper arrangements to send back people of other states stranded in Himachal Pradesh.