Over 1,200 houses damaged in Mandi flashfloods: Minister Negi

Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Wednesday said that over 1,200 houses were damaged fully or partially in cloudbursts and flashfloods in Mandi district recently. “The estimates of the loss suffered are being prepared. The loss may have crossed the Rs 1,000 crore mark,” he added.

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Negi said that the relief and rehabilitation process was underway on a war footing in the flashflood affected areas and the state government had made a large deployment of machinery and manpower there. “In Mandi district, around 170 JCB and other heavy machines have been deployed for the restoration of roads and to ramp up relief and rehabilitation efforts. In Thunag alone, 45 JCB machines have been deployed,” he added.

The minister rejected the charge that roads to Janjheli were still blocked and no one had reached there so far. “It’s wrong to say that roads are blocked and no one has reached Janjheli. The Deputy Commissioner, Additional District Magistrate and other officers from Mandi have already visited Janjheli,” he said while accusing the BJP of making false claims.

Asked about Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut’s visit to the disaster-affected Mandi areas and her controversial statement there, Negi said that real life was altogether different from the ‘’reel life’’. “It’s easy to play Rani Lakshmibai on screen, but extremely difficult to emulate her feat in real life,” he added.

Negi Said, “If Kangana really wanted to help the state, she could have made efforts for a change in the compensation amount under the relief manual in Parliament. Besides, she could have given her MP Fund of Rs 5 crore to us for the relief and rehabilitation operations.”