MHA approves another tranche of Rs 180 crore; Himachal CM seeks Rs 2,000 crore interim relief

On a day Union Home Minister Amit Shah approved the advance release of Rs 180 crore as the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to flood-hit Himachal Pradesh, the state’s chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Friday sought Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre as interim aid and said the relief manual will be changed to enhance compensation to flood victims in the state. “I spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested him for an interim relief of Rs 2,000 crore,” Sukhu said. He added that the state has suffered losses of Rs 4,000 crore and said the figure is likely to go up as estimates continue to pour in. Sukhu, who had announced Rs 1 lakh to every affected family, said changes will be made in the relief manual to enhance the compensation to the victims. According to the manual, each disaster victim is granted Rs 5,000 as aid at present.

Earlier, the MHA, in a statement said: “The home minister approved the advance release of the second installment of the central share of the SDRF, amounting to Rs 180.40 crore for 2023-24, as an interim relief to Himachal Pradesh”.

“To support those affected, the central government had released the first installment of the central share of Rs 180.40 crore from the SDRF on July 10 for relief measures immediate in nature. To deal with the situation caused due to flash floods and floods, cloudbursts and landslides, the central government has provided all necessary logistics and financial assistance to the Himachal Pradesh government to meet the situation efficiently,” it said.
“In total, 11 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with rescue boats and other necessary equipment have been deployed for rescue operations. One column of the 1 PARA SF and the 205 Army Aviation Squadron have also been deployed at Paonta Sahib for civil evacuation. Two MI-17V5 helicopters have been deployed for evacuation missions,” the statement said.

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“The central government has also constituted Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to make on-the-spot assessment of the situation and relief works being carried out by the Himachal Pradesh government. The IMCTs would commence field visits on July 17,” the statement said.

In Shimla, addressing reporters here, Sukhu said a disaster relief fund has been established to help the people in distress and all ministers in his government and Congress MLAs have decided to donate a month’s salary to help the victims. Associations of Indian Administrative Service and Himachal Administrative Services officers and others have also decided to contribute a day’s salary to the fund, the chief minister added. “We will request the BJP legislators to do the same,” Sukhu said as he also appealed to the general public to contribute.

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The government devised a three-point strategy — rescue, evacuation and restoration. Having rescued and evacuated about 67,000 of the 75,000 tourists, including 250 stranded in snowbound Chandratal in Lahaul and Spiti, the focus is now on restoration of infrastructure, the CM said. In the past 15 days, 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, he said.

With PTI inputs

© The Indian Express (P) Ltd

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