CABINET APPROVES DISSOLUTION OF SHIVALIK DHAULADHAR TOURISM BOARD

Chandigarh, July 5, 2017: The Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved the dissolution of Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Development Board, which was constituted and headed by former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The council of ministers, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, decided to hand over the work of developing the area around Thein Dam at the Ranjit Sagar Lake as a tourism/theme destination to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB).

The move would help relieve the cash-strapped state government of an unnecessary financial burden, said an official spokesperson, giving details of the cabinet decision.

The cabinet noted that the Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Development Board had initiated the process of development of a tourist destination around the lake under PPP mode by taking funds from PIDB. However, PIDB itself had sufficient funds and experience, as well as the necessary expertise, to execute a project of this scale and quality, the cabinet further observed, adding that this made the role of the Shivalik Dhauladhar Board completely redundant and the entire exercise a wasteful expenditure, which the state could ill afford.