Himachal Govt committed to providing relief to every rain-hit person, says CM

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the state government will provide financial assistance from its own resources to all those people who have suffered damages in the monsoons even if he has to make cuts in other expenditure.

Replying to a query by Rampur MLA Nand Lal and Pachhad MLA Reena Kashyap during question hour in the Vidhan Sabha today, the Chief Minister said the government remains committed to providing assistance to every affected person as per the enhanced relief manual. "The Vidhan Sabha has passed a resolution urging Centre to give relaxation in the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 to grant forest land to those whose lands have been washed away and they have been rendered houses," Sukhu said.

"Our government is trying to get permission from the Centre to allow the state government to grant one bigha forest land to people who have been rendered landless," the Chief Minister said. He added that the state government will provide help to everyone to reconstruct damaged houses and grant them a claim for damage to crops.

Replying to the query, Education Minister Rohit Thakur said there is provision in the rules to provide three biswa land in rural areas and two biswas in urban areas to landless people to make their houses. "A Cabinet sub-committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi to look into the issue. Apart from this, the state government is also looking into various legal remedies that can be resorted to," Thakur informed.

The Education Minister informed that in 2023, a total of 1,088 houses were totally damaged and 4,840 partially, in 2024, as many as 81 houses suffered total damage and 107 partial. This year the figure of total damaged houses had touched 358 while 1,005 had suffered partial damage. He added that two persons whose houses had been damaged and had been rendered landless in 2024 monsoons had been provided land.