Shimla, Jul 28 (PTI) The Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide an area-specific relief package to people affected by cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides across Himachal Pradesh.
Thakur, who met the prime minister in New Delhi on Monday, apprised him of the colossal loss and damage caused in the disaster-hit area on June 30. He said the state has suffered a loss of more than Rs 1,200 crore. The Seraj Assembly constituency suffered the maximum loss of over Rs 1,000 crore.
In a statement, Thakur said that as many as 42 persons lost their lives in Seraj, Nachan and Dharampur. A total of 29 persons died in Seraj alone. Around 500 houses were destroyed, while 1,000 houses were partially damaged.
He told the prime minister that Syathi village in the Dharampur constituency had been completely buried, and people are spending nights under the open sky. He requested an “area-specific” relief package for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Thakur said that the prime minister assured all possible cooperation in reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the affected areas, the statement said.
“Better late than never, I am happy that the BJP members of Parliament under the leadership of the BJP national president and Union Health Minister met the Union leaders to seek assistance for disaster-hit areas of Himachal Pradesh,” Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Monday.
Referring to the recent meetings of BJP MPs led by Nadda with Union ministers, Sukhu reiterated that the state government is ready to meet with anyone under the leadership of BJP Nadda for the welfare of disaster-hit people.
Talking to the media here, Sukhu said that in July–August 2023, the worst monsoon disaster hit Himachal Pradesh, and about 3,000 houses were fully damaged while 22,000 houses were partly damaged. It would have been better if the BJP leaders had supported the government in seeking a special relief package for the state at that point in time.
“You realise when you feel the burn,” he said, and recalled that BJP legislators did not support the resolution for declaring the monsoon calamity in the state as a natural disaster and a special relief package of Rs 12,000 crore in 2023.
The state government had announced a special package of Rs 4,500 crore for the disaster-affected people from its own resources in 2023, he said.
Sukhu added that the government is in talks with the World Bank regarding a Rs 2,200 crore project for relief and reconstruction in disaster-hit areas of the state.
Heavy rains had triggered floods and landslides in the state in July and August 2023, and about 550 persons died during the monsoon season. The state had urged the Union government to release funds of over Rs 9,000 crore under the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). PTI BPL HIG
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