हिमाचल न्यूज़ डेली (Himachal News Daily)

Solan, 15 July, 2023. Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited Shamti on the Solan-Rajgarh road today to inspect the damage caused by landslides and interacted with the affected families. As many as thirty houses were completely destroyed, while fifty others suffered partial damages, affecting around one hundred and eight families in the area.

Expressing solidarity with the affected people, the Chief Minister assured them that the State Government would provide all possible assistance to compensate the losses. He directed the Deputy Commissioner, Solan to release an interim amount of rupees one lakh to each affected family, while the remaining funds will be disbursed after the final assessment report of loss is received. Additionally, he directed the district administration to expedite the restoration work and make adequate arrangements for the affected families.

The Chief Minister also inspected the relief camps at Jatoli and enquired about the facilities being provided to around 50 families sheltered there.

 Interacting with media on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the State Government initiated extensive relief and rescue operations in the disaster affected areas in the entire State. He said that these efforts led to the successful saving of numerous lives, and essential services such as electricity, water, and mobile networks were temporarily restored within 48 hours. However, he emphasized that complete restoration could take up to a year. He said that more than 70,000 tourists were safely evacuated which included 250 individuals who were rescued from the frozen Chandrataal suburbs in Spiti area.

The Chief Minister said that though a team from the Central Government is scheduled to assess the damage on Monday, no financial assistance has been received so far. He said that the State Government was giving priority for restoration of roads in apple belt areas of the state and has released Rs. 50 crore to the Public Works Department for this purpose. Later, the Chief Minister also visited Dharampur on Shimla-Chandigarh National Highway, which witnessed plethora of landslips sweeping away huge portion of NH. The Chief Minister directed for early removal of debris from the NH and also asked the authorities to reconstruct the road to provide relief to the commuters as soon as possible.

Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, MLA Vinod Sultanpuri, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister, Sunil Sharma, Mayor, Solan Municipal Corporation Poonam Grover, Deputy Mayor, Rajeev Kaura, Chairman Baghat Bank, Arun Sharma, Chairman Jogindra Cooperative Bank, Mukesh Sharma, Congress leaders Dayal Pyari, Surender Sethi, Shiv Kumar, Rahul Thakur, Deputy Commissioner, Manmohan Sharma and various other dignitaries and officers also accompanied the Chief Minister.