Traditions, fairs, cultures should be preseved: Himachal CM

Shimla, July 6 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Sunday said traditions, cultures, customs, fairs, and languages should be preserved.

He was participating in the traditional Bishu fair and said such fairs and festivals are closely associated with lives of the people in the state.

"We need to preserve such traditions, customs, cultures and languages for the coming generations," the chief minister said in Ghoond village in Chopal tehsil of Shimla district, 75 km from here.

He said the ancient temples should be preserved and maintained in the original architecture.

"Though I have been to this area many times, sometimes traversing on foot, I am happy to know all such areas have road connectivity," the octogenarian Virbhadra Singh said.

The chief minister said when Himachal came into existence as a state (April 15, 1948), there were 1,000 km of road and that too for small vehicles.

"Today there are 34,000 km of roads. Every village has electricity... there were just 400 to 500 schools and today (Sunday) there are 17,500 schools besides many colleges for providing better and quality education. These were mostly opened during the Congress regimes."

On widening of the World Bank-funded 80-km-long Theog-Kotkhai-Hatkoti-Rohru road, the chief minister directed private firm C and C Constructions Ltd. to complete the work before the ensuing apple season or else face action.

The Rs.321-crore road project in Shimla district was awarded to C and C Constructions Ltd. last year.

At present, the road - the lifeline of Shimla's prominent apple belt that carries annual business valued Rs.1,000 crore - is a motorist's nightmare.

The chief minister inaugurated the Ghoond Kenchi-Pantha road at Ghoond village and also laid the foundation stone of lift water supply scheme that will be constructed at a cost of Rs.1.90 crore. This will benefit 26 habitations with a population of about 2,000.