Shimla, March 25 -- Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday informed that the state has witnessed 66 deaths due to drug overdose in three years-2023 to January 31, 2026-with 27 deaths reported in 2025. The data was shared in response to a question raised by Jhanduta MLA, Jeet Ram Katwal, in the Himachal Pradesh assembly session. In reply, the chief minister, who also holds the home department, informed that eight youth died from drug overdose in 2023, 31 in 2024 and 27 in 2025. No overdose deaths were reported January 2026. Meanwhile, 6,246 cases of drug trafficking and other narcotic substances have been registered in which 5,298 accused were granted bail, the data revealed. Out of 5,684 chargesheet filed across the state, 5,437 cases are still pending with conviction of 108 and acquittal of 139. The state government also listed steps taken to tacked the issue, including the PIT NDPS Act enactment. State government and the BJP have locked horns multiple times on the issues, accusing each other of not doing enough to fight the menace. In three years, 639 cases were registered in Shimla district and 1,287 smugglers were arrested. In Bilaspur district, 635 people were nabbed in 396 cases. In Mandi, 530 smugglers landed in police net in 327 cases. The least number of cases have been reported in Lahaul-Spiti where only two people have been held in two cases in three years. In Kinnaur, 24 people were arrested on charges of smuggling in 17 cases. Various departments, boards, and corporations of the state government have spent Rs.22,87,74,000 on advertisements in the last three years. The information was shared during the assembly. "Of this amount, the department of information and public relations spent a budget of Rs.14 crore, while the remainder was spent by other departments. In contrast, the previous BJP government had spent a budget of Rs.28 crore," said CM, while replying to the query of BJP MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma. "The government had spent a sum of Rs.22 crore on publicity and promotion. Had this budget been allocated for Dharamshala, work on the Central University's North Campus could have commenced," Sharma said. Responding to this, the CM said, "If Centre agrees to bear the costs for electricity and water, the state government will deposit the funds." Himachal Pradesh government is mulling to prepare a "master plan" for the beautification of Naina Devi and Jawalaji Temples. CM Sukhu, said, "Himachal is land of Shaktipeeth and as part of the Vyavstha Praivartan we will be preparing the master plan of Naina Devi and Jawalaji Temple to facilitate the devotees by providing them with world-class facilities for which budget provision of Rs.25 crore has been done." CM said that to ensure the systematic development of the Naina Devi, the government is set to appoint an architect within six months. The information was shared by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during question Hour, in response to a query raised by MLA Randhir Sharma, who raised a query regarding the status of installation of lift on temple premises that started in 2017 but was halted in 2023. Furthermore, the CM assured that the local MLA would be included in the Temple Trust, either as a regular member or as a special invitee. Earlier, in reply to same question, deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri informed that the work was halted because the area was declared "highly sensitive and dangerous zone" during a geological survey. "The temple trust of Naina Devi had initiated the work of installing a lift for the convenience of elderly and differently-abled devotees. However, according to the Geological Survey conducted by the state government, the entire area of Naina Devi has been declared a "highly sensitive and dangerous zone"....