Virbhadra lays foundation stones of various projects

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid foundation stones of a shooting range, a fine arts college and an auditorium for The Himachal Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) here.

The auditorium of HIPA at Mashobra near here, will have seating capacity of 550 persons, and will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 4-crore and would have state of art technologies for holding seminars and summits.

He also laid the foundation stone of its administrative block.

Singh directed officials of departments concerned to carry out the construction work in three shifts so that these buildings are completed in a time bound manner. The five-storey building would also have 30 residential rooms.

The Chief Minister also laid foundation stones for an international level shooting range and a Fine Arts College at Loharab in Shimla Rural assembly constituency.

Singh, who is an MLA from this assembly constituency, said Rs 35 crore has been sanctioned by the state government for the shooting range, while around Rs 30 crore would be spent for building the fine arts college.

Addressing a public meeting on the occasion, he said a number of health, educational and veterinary institutions have been opened and link roads to connect the villages in Shimla Rural assembly segment have been constructed in the last four years.

A number of drinking water supply schemes have been completed and works on some other major schemes are nearing completion. Two colleges had been opened in the constituency and a Law University is also coming up, the Chief Minister said.

Accusing BJP of dividing people on basis of region and caste ahead of state elections, Singh claimed, “People will unite and march towards development and prosperity.