Condoling the death of persons who were killed in landslides in the ongoing monsoon season, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Friday called on Centre and state government to jointly develop a mechanism to prevent occurrence of such mishaps in future.

Addressing the special session of HP Vidhan Sabha to mark 5oth statehood year of the state, he said that many people had died in landslides and natural calamities in the state during the current monsoon season while calling to develop a mechanism to prevent these.

He expressed happiness over participation in celebrations of the golden jubilee year of statehood and congratulated the legislative assembly members and people of the state.

He urged all elected representatives to work for development of Himachal Pradesh and hoped that the state will soon become ‘Sirmaur’ (crown) of development in the country.

Kovind said Himachal had been ranked in achieving Sustainable Development Goals as the report of Niti Aayog and besides, the state had become a leading state in the country in various other aspects.

He lauded for Governor R V Arlekar and chief minister Jai Ram Thakur for achieving the milestone in Niti Aayog’s SDG index report 2020-21 and stated that the state had also become first state in the country to achieve the target of vaccinating eligible population with first dose of Covid vaccine.

He credited former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the construction of Atal Tunnel Rohtang and said Vajpayee used to consider the state as his second home and he had granted industrial package which contributed to the development of the state.

“Vajpayee laid the foundation stone of Atal Tunnel Rohtang in 2002 which is now providing all weather access to strategic Leh and Ladakh areas and it will usher in a new era of development in these areas,” the President said.

He further stated that Himachal had been bestowed with natural beauty and he was always attracted towards the state since 1974 when he first visited Kullu-Manali after which he attended various programmes in the state.

He stated that he had talked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today to greet him on his birthday and he too had extended heartiest congratulations to the people of the state on the occasion of 50^th statehood year.

Kovind said the Council of Chamber in which he was addressing the present and former MLA and MPs had witnessed historical events such as the election of Bithal Bhai Patel as first speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly by defeating a Britisher.

Patel while serving as presiding officer had set many examples which were followed even today in many states and parliamentary democracies.

Kovind also hailed the role of youth of the state in protecting our borders from enemies and said at present, there were around 1.20 ex-servicemen in the state with many winning highest gallantry medals including Param Vir Chakra.

He appreciated the state government for imposing a ban on plastic and smoking and gave a call to adopt natural farming by shunning chemical farming.

HP Governor Vipin Singh Parmar, assembly Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar, chief minister Jai RamThakur and the Leader of Opposition Mukesh agnihotri thanked the President for attending the special session of the Vidhan Sabha.

Union minister Anurag Thakur, former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, state BJP chief and Shimla MP Suresh MP, present and former MLAs and MPs were also present on the occasion among others.