Himachal rains: Incessant rains have wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh as over 300 people lost their lives, above 30 are mission and nearly 12,000 houses have been destroyed. In wake of heavy rains in the state, Congress on Wednesday urged BJP-led Centre to declare devastation due to rains as a 'national disaster'. Moreover, the Congress also demanded that the central government must announce a Rs 10,000 crore special package for the state.
In addition to this, Congress leader and in-charge for Himachal Pradesh, Rajeev Shukla also urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to allow all MPs, in both the Houses of Parliament, to provide relief to the hill state out of the MP Local Area Development Fund.
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"Himachal not getting national attention"
He alleged that Himachal is not getting the national attention required as it has never suffered so much devastation in its history. According to Shukla, 330 people have died and 35 are missing, while 12,000 houses have been destroyed due to heavy rains and rain-related issues in the state.
"The state has incurred a loss of Rs 13,000 crore. Highways have been swept away. The entire Himachal -- upper and lower reaches -- has suffered due to heavy rainfall," Shukla told reporters.
He further claimed that as many as 75,000 tourists were stranded and 17,000 cars were safely taken out in 48 hours by the state government.
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Congress demanded centre to declare Himachal calamity a national disaster
"We demand that the central government should declare the devastation caused in Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rains as a national calamity and provide it a special package on the lines provided to Uttarakhand. We are demanding a package of Rs 10,000 crore. Nothing will happen with the Rs 200 crore announced so far by the Centre," the Congress leader said.
"I urge both the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman to allow the MPs to give donations to the Himachal Pradesh government out of their MP Development Fund," he said.
"We urge the prime minister and the home minister to come to the aid of the Himachal government by providing a special package to the state," he said, adding that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu has already visited Delhi and met the duo.
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