Central teams visit rain-hit areas in Solan, Mandi to assess damage

Solan/Mandi, July 19

A four-member inter-ministerial central team today assessed the damage caused due to heavy rain in Solan district. The district administration has assessed the loss at Rs 365 crore.

The team visited affected areas in Parwanoo, Kamli, Koti, Jabli, Dharampur, Sihardi, Sultanpur, Kyar, Shamti and Rundanghoro. It sought detailed information about the damage caused to the National Highway-5.

A detailed presentation on the loss suffered by the NH-5 and State Highway-105, irrigation and potable water schemes, HP State Electricity Board as well as 810 private houses was given to the committee by the district administration.

A sum of Rs 1.18 crore has been disbursed to the affected families, while the total loss has been pegged at Rs 365 crore. The teams raised questions about the quality of construction undertaken along the NH-5 where a colossal loss has been suffered.

Twelve labour shed, 153 animal shelters, 429 boundary walls, three water mills and 810 houses have been damaged due to heavy rain in the district. As many as 1,483 electricity transformers, 184 roads and 294 schemes of the Jal Shakti Department have also been hit.

Officials said 1,473 transformers have been rectified so far, while 162 roads have been repaired and 285 schemes of the Jal Shakti Department restored.

A loss of Rs 8.79 crore was suffered due to waterlogging on 3,081 hectares. More than 200 bigha land has been damaged at Shamti, where 132 houses have been completely or partially destroyed. In all, 108 families have been hit by the disaster. Five houses have also been damaged at Kyar village near Solan.

The central team assured the officials that it would soon present its report to the central authorities.

The central team comprised Varun Aggarwal, Superintending Engineer, Road Transport and National Highway Ministry; Sudhir Badhoria, Deputy Commissioner (Crops), Central Agriculture Ministry; Shailesh Kumar, Director, Central Rural Development Ministry; and Abhinav Shukla from the National Remote Sensing Centre.

In Mandi, a four-member inter-ministerial team of the Central Government led by Ravinesh Kumar, Financial Adviser, National Disaster Management Authority, today visited flood-affected areas of Mandi district to assess the damage caused. He was accompanied by Piyush Ranjan, Director of the Central Water Commission; RK Meena, Director of the Central Electricity Authority; and Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Director of the Department of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance.

DC Rana, Special Secretary and Director, Revenue and Disaster Management, Arindam Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, and other district officials were also present.

The Central team visited Thunag, Pandoh, Aut and Balichowki areas of Mandi where heavy rain, floods and landslides had caused massive damage on July 9 and 10. Besides inspecting damaged houses and shops, the team interacted with the affected families. It assessed the damage caused to roads, bridges, drinking water and electricity projects.