Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said the state government will develop lesser known tourist destinations with Rs 2100 crore ADB tourism infrastructure development project.

Addressing a public meeting at Chhota Bhangal in Baijnath area of Kangra district, Thakur said Barot area has immense tourism potential and if explored properly it could emerge as one of the most popular destinations for the tourists.

He also shared memories of his first visit to the Barot area during his college days with the people of the area and said that area has undergone sea change during all these years and was poised to emerge as a major tourist destination.

Thakur stated that the college building at Multhan would be constructed at the earliest so that students could be benefitted and the area will be developed under ‘Nai Raahein Nai Manzilein’ scheme to attract more and more tourists to this area.

“The present state government is committed for all around and balanced development of the difficult and far off areas. The state government is also laying special stress on construction of the roads and providing connectivity in rural areas,” he stated.

The CM said efforts were on to construct Bhubujot road and Bhubujot tunnel as this would give a big boost to tourism development in the area. Rs 10 crore has been provided for developing Bir Billing as a paragliding destination under the ADB project.

He further stated that the Rs 2100 crore ADB project sanctioned for the state would be implemented for developing lesser known tourist destinations.

“I will send a team of the Tourism department to visit the area to identify land for creating a facility for the stay of the tourists visiting the area,” he added.

He also laid the foundation stone of the Combined Office Building at Multhan in Chhota Bhangal to be completed by spending an amount of Rs 9.79 crore.

He announced  that BDO Baijnath would sit for five days at Multan every month to facilitate the people of the remote area.

Earlier, he inaugurated developmental projects worth Rs 32 crore at Jhatingari in Drang area of Mandi district and inaugurated the upgraded Gathasni-Barot road, Lanjnu bridge over Uhl river and Barot-Maiot road constructed under PMGSY Phase-II.