How is Himachal govt utilising funds given by Centre for flood-hit Mandi, asks Kangana Ranaut

BJP MP from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut, asked the Central Government to explain how the relief funds it had provided were being utilised by the Congress-led state government for flood and landslide-affected areas of her constituency.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Kangana said, “My constituency, Mandi, is suffering heavy losses, both in terms of lives and property, due to back-to-back floods and landslides. Several bridges have collapsed, and many villages are inundated.”

She demanded clarity on how the “thousands of crores in relief funds” provided by the Centre were being used by the state government. “We want to know how much financial assistance has been given by the Centre, when it was disbursed, because the state government is not acknowledging it,” she said.

The actor-turned-politician also highlighted the situation in Mandi Sadar, which was hit by yet another flood on Tuesday, causing losses worth crores. She sought details on the deployment and response time of the NDRF and ITBP in such emergencies.

Calling for a long-term plan to mitigate disaster risks in the region, Kangana asked the Centre what comprehensive strategy had been put in place to deal with the frequent natural calamities in Himachal.

Mandi has been multiple times struck by flashfloods and cloudbursts in the last couple of years, with the latest being on early Tuesday after a devastating flashflood swept the city, claiming three lives, leaving one person missing and one injured.

Experts say that a combined natural and human-induced vulnerabilities make Mandi exceptionally prone to flashfloods, especially during the monsoon season.

Notably, a high-level committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah had last month approved Rs 2,006.40 crore Central assistance to Himachal Pradesh, for recovery and reconstruction plan in the aftermath of flood, landslides and cloudburst incident of 2023.

As per the government, the said relief package would help Himachal in carrying out recovery and reconstruction activities, which arose due to damage and destruction occurred during 2023 monsoon due to floods, cloudbursts and landslides. Out of this, Rs 1,504.80 crore will be the Central share from Recovery and Reconstruction Funding Window under the National Disaster Response Fund.

Earlier, on December 12, 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs had approved additional financial assistance of Rs 633.73 crore from the NDRF for Himachal Pradesh, which was affected by this disaster.