Himachal Pradesh government seeks more funds for relief, rehabilitation

Shimla, November 24

Coinciding with the three-day visit of Inter-ministerial Central teams today to assess the losses during the monsoons in Himachal, the state government has sought more funds for relief and rehabilitation works as the current financial allocation of Rs 454 crore to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was insufficient as 50 per cent of the funds are earmarked for the Covid-19 pandemic management.

“Actual funds available for relief and restoration works are insufficient, keeping in view the extent of damages and losses and as such additional funds are required,” a memorandum prepared by the government stated.

The memorandum said 476 persons lost their lives and 627 were injured while 87 landslides and 16 flash floods occurred in the state. The maximum 26 landslides took place in Shimla while 10 out of 16 flash floods were reported in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district.

About 21,145 km of road length and 6,685 water supply schemes were affected and the Public Works Department and Jal Shakti Vibhaag suffered losses to the tune of Rs 649.94 crore and Rs 112.54 crore, respectively.

Further, 1,864 houses were damaged out of which 126 houses were fully damaged and 915 houses were severely damaged. As many as 765 shops, cowsheds, huts and gharats were damaged and the estimated value of these assets was Rs 11.97 crore and 11,334 hectares of cropped area under agriculture and 11,623.519 hectares under horticulture was damaged, causing a loss of Rs 82.81 crore.

Three sub teams headed by Ravnish Kumar, Financial Adviser, Dr AL Waghmare, Joint Director DSD (Lucknow) and Bhupesh Kumar, Superintending Engineer (Coordination), Indus Basin Organisation are visiting Kullu and Mandi, Shimla and Kinnaur and Kangra areas and would converge at Shimla on November 26 for discussions with state government officers. The teams would make spot visits tomorrow.