As incessant heavy downpour over the past week triggered many landslides and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has requested for an interim relief of Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre.
"I spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested him for an interim relief of Rs 2,000 crore," Sukhu said on Friday.
The CM also added that, owing to the natural disaster, the state has suffered a financial loss of whopping Rs 4,000 crore and the figure was likely to go up.
The chief minister, who had earlier announced that a compensation of Rs 1 lakh will be given to every affected family, promised changes in the relief manual to enhance the compensation.
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According to the manual, each disaster victim is granted Rs 5,000 as aid at present.
How the government is responding?
Whille addressing the reporters, CM Sukhu said a disaster relief fund has been established in a bid to to aid the people in distress.
He also mentioned that all ministers in his government and Congress MLAs have decided to donate a month's salary to help the victims.
Associations of Indian Administrative Services and Himachal Administrative Services officers and others have also decided to contribute a day's salary to the fund, he added.
"We will request the BJP legislators to do the same," Sukhu said and also appealed to the general public to contribute.
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To restore normalcy in the state, the government has devised a three-point strategy which includes rescue, evacuation and restoration.
Having rescued about 67,000 of the 75,000 tourists, including 250 stranded in snow-bound Chandratal in Lahaul and Spiti, the focus is now on restoration of infrastructure, the chief minister said.
Some tourists are still there in Kasol and Tirthan Valley. They are all safe and have been provided with food and other essential items, he said.
According to the CM, the state government has released Rs 1,100 crore, including Rs 610 crore to the Public Works Department, Rs 218 crore to the Jal Shakti Department and Rs 180 crore to the State Disaster Relief Fund in the past 15 days.
Sukhu clarified that the Rs 180 crore received from the Centre was the annual assistance given to the state during the monsoon and reiterated that the state government is yet to receive financial aid.
He also urged the Union government to release the Rs 315 crore pending since last year.
Monsoon taking toll on Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh has been facing adversities since the very onset of the monsoon on June 26.
According to the State Emergency Response Centre, so far, 108 people have died while 12 are missing. As many as 667 houses have been damaged completely and 1,264 suffered partial damage.
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Seventeen deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, including six in road accidents in Mandi and Shimla districts. The death toll includes those killed in road accidents and rain-related incidents.
Over 860 roads in the state are still blocked. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation has suspended operation on 994 routes while 260 buses are held enroute, Transport Department officials said.
Rescue operations underway
In a bid to trace all the stranded people, police teams are now focusing on inaccessible areas with tough topography and low mobile connectivity.
According to the acting Director-General of Police Satwant Atwal, the rescue teams are moving to the tough interior areas where roads have been blocked due to floods and landslides,
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A number of tourists stranded in Kasol, Manikaran and adjoining areas have refused to move out without their vehicles and decided to stay back till the situation normalises, she said.
The tourists said they would prefer to take their vehicles and wait for the roads to reopen, she added.
Noting the reluctance of some tourists to leave without their vehicles, Sukhu on Thursday said the police would provide them with a receipt that would allow them to take their vehicles when the roads reopen.
