Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited the rain and flood affected areas of Matehdi, Baldwara, Maseran and Jukain of Sarkaghat assembly segment of Mandi district today and interacted with the people who suffered losses besides assuring them of all possible support from the Government.
The Chief Minister announced immediate financial assistance of rupees one lakh each to the affected families for refurbishing their partially damaged houses. The Chief Minister also met 23 families from Gram Panchayat Gehra, who had suffered heavy losses during the recent rain wrath.
The Chief Minister also promised financial assistance of rupees one lakh each to these families, as a part of the government's efforts to extend a helping hand to the affected families during the tough times they had experienced. The Chief Minister directed the district administration to provide the best facilities to them at the relief camps they were sheltered in.
Interacting with media persons at Sarkaghat, Chief Minister said that the scale of devastation across the entire state due to heavy rains and landslides is massive. He said that the estimated losses from the disaster were estimated to around Rs. 10,000 crore.
Despite significant challenges, the Chief Minister affirmed his government's commitment to provide compensation to affected individuals with the state's available resources. The Chief Minister underlined the government's dedication to prioritize the needs of the common people.
He said that the affected individuals would receive enhanced compensation and financial support for reconstructing their houses. Amendments would be made in the Relief Manual to help farmers whose crops were damaged due to the calamity.
In response to queries, Chief Minister stated that the Union Government's first installment of interim relief was still pending. He said that out of the relief amount of Rs. 315 crore, which was pending for the last few years with the union government due to some audit objections, a sum of Rs.189 crore has been released whereas under the SDRF, a total of Rs 360 crore is released to the State.
The Central Government released the first installment of Rs 180 crore in June and the second installment of Rs 180 crore in advance, which was to be received in December. Thus the amount of Rs 360 crore, received so far, was our righteous share, which otherwise is given to all the States. No separate financial assistance has been released so far, remarked Sh. Sukhu.
MLAs Chandrashekhar, Suresh Kumar, Dilip Thakur, former MLAs Col. Inder Singh and Rangila Ram Rao, Chairman Kangra Cooperative Primary Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Ram Chandra Pathania, Chairman APMC Mandi, Sanjeev Guleria, Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chowdhary, SP Saumya Sambasivan and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.