Himachal CM visits flood-affected Sujanpur, inspects relief work

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu visited the flood-affected Sujanpur area of Hamirpur, his home district and inspected the damages caused by the unprecedented rains and landslides. He also took stock of relief and rehabilitation works.

Taking note of the heavy devastation at other places including Utpur and Kakkar, he directed the district administration to declare them as disaster-affected areas.

The chief minister assured the affected families of all possible help and said that the government would take adequate measures to assist them from its own resources. Sukhu said that the state government has announced a special relief package, wherein provision has been made to provide ten times enhanced compensation to the affected.

Earlier, the relief amount of Rs 12,500 was given for partial damage to the ‘pucca’ houses and Rs 10,000 for partial damage to the ‘kutcha’ houses. But in view of the loss caused due to natural calamity, the government has increased it to one lakh rupees. He said that earlier the shops and dhabas used to get financial assistance of only Rs 10,000, which has now been increased ten times to Rs 1 lakh.

Two local MLAs Rajendra Rana and Ashish Sharma, CM’s political advisor Sunil Sharma, Kangra Central Cooperative Bank president, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, deputy commissioner Hemraj Bairwa, and Superintendent of Police Dr. Aakriti Sharma also accompanied the chief minister.