Himachal Pradesh to declare heavy rains as state calamity
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to declare the massive damage caused by heavy rains as a state calamity, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Friday.
He said a notification in this regard would be issued Friday. The state is also waiting a response from the Centre to declare the disaster in Himachal Pradesh as a national calamity.
Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since Sunday, triggering landslides in several districts, including Shimla.
The chief minister said rescue operations are going on in full swing and the state government is making efforts to help the affected families especially those whose houses have been damaged in the flash floods and landslides with its own resources.
“Central teams have inspected the affected areas for loss assessment and we need timely help from the Centre,” Sukhu said, adding the state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 10,000 crore.
With the recovery of one more body from the rubble of a Shiv temple in Summer Hill, the death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh has risen to 75 and 22 of these deaths were in rebuild the infrastructure damaged by the heavy rains this monsoon.
The state government on Thursday relaxed conditions for spending the MLA local area development fund.
The MLAs would now be able to use their fund of Rs 2.10 crore per year for projects like construction of retaining walls and channelisation of drains.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday announced to provide a financial assistance of Rs 11 crore to Himachal Pradesh.
Baghel on Thursday spoke to his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu over phone and took stock of the situation in the northern state and assured to extend support to deal with it.
In a statement issued on Friday, Baghel said a severe natural calamity has hit the ‘Devbhoomi’ (land of gods) Himachal Pradesh and in such a situation, people of Chhattisgarh are standing with the people of the northern state.
