Received 6.40 per cent from Centre for total calamity loss of Rs 9,905 crore: Himachal CM Sukhu

IANS

Dharamsala, December 20

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Wednesday apprised the Legislative Assembly about the loss of life and property due to heavy rain in monsoon and said the state has received Rs 633 crore from the central government, which was just 6.40 per cent of the total estimated loss of Rs 9,905 crore.

In a statement in the House here, the Chief Minister said 500 people have lost their lives due to massive devastation caused by heavy rain.

Asking the Opposition BJP to accompany him to apprise the Prime Minister about the actual loss and to seek more central assistance to carry out relief and rehabilitation work in disaster-hit areas, Sukhu said an interim relief of Rs 200 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund was released on September 16.

“At least Rs 1,658 crore is supposed to be sanctioned to the state. But the Government of India has sanctioned only Rs 633.73 crore as on December 19, which is insufficient to compensate for the widespread devastation. The sanctioned amount is only 6.40 per cent of the loss,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the state government was expecting a generous financial indulgence from the Centre of Rs 2,000 crore.

Responding to the Chief Minister's statement, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the state could get more assistance from the Centre “if the state proceeded the case appropriately”.

“You (the government) are trying to blame the central government. This is not your right perspective. You have never expressed gratitude for the financial assistance extended by the central government,” former CM Thakur said.

At this, the Chief Minister stood up and said, “You should accompany us to meet the Prime Minister for seeking more financial assistance”.

In August, the Congress government declared the entire hill state as a natural calamity affected area in view of the massive damage caused to human life and property due to unprecedented heavy rains.

Officials told IANS that hundreds of buildings have been destroyed partially or completely and thousands of families forced to abandon their homes, seeking refuge in temporary shelters or with relatives from June 24, the onset of the southwest monsoon, till mid of August.

The situation was dire with approximately 2,000 roads severely damaged, and both government and private property suffering significant losses.

As the state was battling the worst natural calamity in 50 years, civil society organisations and environmental activists in August had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider declaration of the situation as a national disaster or calamity of rare severity under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act of 2005.

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