Govt seeks Rs 1,250 cr Central aid to tackle landslides, floods
Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, July 6
The state government has sought Rs 1,250 crore from the Central Government for tackling various vulnerabilities like landslides, floods and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) even as it awaits Rs 9,020 crore in Central grant for the damage caused in the rain disaster last year.
The cash-strapped government is facing an acute shortage of funds and many roads, bridges, houses, water projects, health institutions and schools damaged in heavy rains last year are yet to be repaired.
Deprived of adequate funds
- The state government has claimed that Himachal had not got adequate resources from the 15th Finance Commission because of a uniform matrix adopted for the entire country
- It has stressed that besides earthquakes and landslides, the state also needs to manage riverine flashfloods
The state government had sought Rs 9,020 crore from the Central Government based on a detailed Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) exercise carried out with the help of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) after unprecedented heavy rains last year. It has been pointed out in the survey report that the uniform matrix developed by the 15th Finance Commission based on the two parameters of the probability of hazard and the extent of vulnerability does not include hazards like landslides, snow avalanches, cloudbursts and the GLOF.
The state government, in a memorandum submitted to the 16th Finance Commission, has pointed out that the threat from these hazards has been underestimated. “Thus in place of cyclones in case of peninsular regions, landslides, cloudbursts, flashfloods, GLOF and snow avalanches should be part of the matrix, which should be redefined,” the memorandum stated.
The state government has claimed that Himachal had not got adequate resources from the 15th Finance Commission because of a uniform matrix for the entire country. It has emphasised that in addition to earthquakes and landslides, the state also needs to effectively manage riverine flashfloods. It has cited the example of the GLOF in Sikkim last year and sought Central funds to mitigate the possible damage to infrastructure.
A total of 5,748 landslides had occurred in Himachal during the monsoon last year and the road infrastructure had suffered the maximum damage to the tune of Rs 2,458 crore, followed by drinking water and sanitation projects (Rs 2,228 crore), housing sector (Rs 2,353 crore) and the health sector (Rs 182 crore). More than 25,000 structures were either destroyed or severely damaged.
Reconstruction and rehabilitation still remains a major challenge for the state government as the intersection of two weather systems causes large-scale destruction. A total of 620 school buildings were damaged last year, causing a loss of over Rs 300 crore alone to the Education Department.
