Himachal: Rs 1,613.5 crore relief sought from the Center for rain damage

Himachal Pradesh: Himachal Pradesh has sought Rs 1,613.50 crore from the Central government to compensate for the losses caused in natural calamities. Additional Chief Secretary Omkar Chand Sharma today chaired a debriefing meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Central Team, which is on a three-day visit to the state to assess the damage caused by the severe cloudburst and flash floods during the monsoon season this year. The visit of the central team was part of a coordinated effort to assess the wide-ranging impact on infrastructure, human lives and agricultural assets across the state. Sharma said the state government submitted a comprehensive memorandum of loss and damage caused by natural calamities, with the total damage estimated to be Rs 1,613.50 crore. He said landslides, cloudbursts and flash floods due to monsoon have severely affected roads, irrigation schemes and residential areas in the state. He said the state witnessed 46 landslides, 12 cloudbursts and 39 flood incidents, resulting in massive destruction and heavy losses. 174 people lost their lives in these incidents, 31 people went missing and 144 deaths were indirectly linked to rainfall-related hazards. Besides, 1,405 houses and animal shelters were damaged. The state government had allocated Rs 621.77 crore for immediate restoration efforts, mainly for damaged roads and bridges.