Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Friday and raised the issue of heavy losses incurred by the state due to heavy rains.
CM Sukhu also requested PM Modi for immediate financial assistance from the central government for relief and restoration operations to bring back normalcy in the state, according to an official statement by Himachal Pradesh Government.
Himachal CM also informed PM Modi about the losses to the Larji Project in the state due to floods. The state has suffered huge losses and massive destruction has been caused to Highways, Link Roads, Irrigation, Electric, and water supply schemes along with enormous damage to Public and Private property.
PM Modi after listening to the Chief Minister’s concerns assured of all possible assistance to the state. He also said that the Central Government has sent a team to assess flood damages in the state immediately and added that financial assistance will be released once the team submits the final report of damages, added the statement.
Himachal Pradesh is still struggling to recover from widespread devastation caused by cloudbursts and floods since last weekend as 108 deaths were reported in the state.
The estimated cost of the damage in the state is reportedly over Rs 3738.28 crore monetary loss, the Department of Revenue, Himachal government said in a data released on Friday.
Among all the affected states in North India, Himachal Pradesh remains the hardest hit, after which Union Home Minister Amit approved the advance release of the second installment of the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) amounting to Rs 180.40 crore.
In order to support the affected people, the Central Government has already released the first instalment of a Central share of Rs 180.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh from SDRF on July 10, 2023, for relief measures of immediate nature, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a statement.
“The release of funds will help State Government to undertake relief measures for the affected people during the current Monsoon season,” said the MHA.
In order to deal with the situation caused due to recent flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, the ministry said, the Government of India has provided all necessary logistics and financial assistance to the State Government of Himachal Pradesh to meet the situation efficiently.
The Central Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has already released Rs 10,031.20 crore as a Central share of SDRF to 27 states during the year 2023-24, said the MHA.
