Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to conserve the rich heritage of the state, Sohan Singh Thandal Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Punjab said that Rs 300 crore are being spent on conserving the heritage buildings of religious and historical importance in the State. Besides, thousands of crores of rupees have been spent to build world class historical monuments. He expressed his views while interacting with media in the Committee Room of Department of Cultural Affairs on the occasion of World Heritage Day.Mr Thandal said that the nations which do not the conserve their heritage,deprive their young generation of an opportunity to be familiar with the glorious history of the state. He said that it was the paramount duty of the government to preserve the heritage of the state to keep our youngsters abreast with our glorious past. He also said that those nations which tend to forget their legacy were bound to be doomed. He opined that the heritage sites give a glimpse into the past and serve as lighthouses for the younger generation, therefore they must be conserved.
On this occasion, Tourism Department launched “Punjab Tourism” Mobile App. This Android based application is available in Google Play Store. Giving details, Mr. Thandal said that this unique app will prove very useful to the tourists as it contains information about tourist places in all the districts of the state. He said that prior to commencing the journey a tourist can get in depth knowledge about tourist places and plan the visit. Moreover, when travelling to Punjab he can get information about any tourist spot within 500 kms of radius from any spot in the State. He said that this application has been integrated with Google Maps.Earlier, a seminar was held on Best Practices in Heritage Conservation where in subject experts shared their views. Ms. Namita Jaspal gave a presentation on various heritage buildings which were being conserved under her supervision in Punjab and the conservation techniques used in them.On World Heritage Day, Tourism Minister Punjab also honoured the team of historians who helped to design the concept paper of Guru Ravi Memorial at Khuralgarh.