Rs 1,000 crore loss in Seraj, all livelihood means destroyed: Jai Ram Thakur

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur today said that the people of the Seraj Assembly constituency in Mandi district had suffered a total loss of around Rs 1,000 crore and he would seek assistance from the Central Government to overcome these. All possible means of livelihood have been destroyed, he added..

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Thakur visited Thunag, Dhar, Jarol and Janjheli areas to assess the damage caused by cloudbursts and review the relief and rehabilitation work. He said that the cloudbursts and the flashfloods had caused unprecedented destruction in these areas. He also visited his ancestral house, which had developed cracks, and the apple orchard that had washed away. He regretted that the 56-km Chail Chowk-Jhanjheli road was restored in nine days while the restoration work should have been done on a war footing in much less time to provide relief to the affected people. “People must be provided pre-fabricated houses before the onset of the winter, as the construction of permanent houses can take much longer,” he added.

Thakur said, “I, along with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, visited many villages in the past two days to assess damage caused by the rain diaster. While I have sought the help of the state government in rehabilitation work, I will visit New Delhi to seek special financial assistance from the Centre.”

He said that apart from the loss of thousands of houses, most of the apple orchards and fertile agricultural fields had washed away. “The tragedy is that all possible means of livelihood have been destroyed. A new beginning will have to be made from a scratch,” he added.

He thanked various NGOs and social organisations for proving relief material and the NDRF, SDRF, Army, Indian Air Force, ITBP, state police and Home Guards for rescue operations.