Pratibha Singh calls on PM, seeks Rs.1,000 crore for relief

Himachal Pradesh's newly-elected Lok Sabha member Pratibha Singh Wednesday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought central assistance of Rs.1,000 crore for repair of damages caused by last month's heavy rain.

The rains that had ravaged Kinnaur district in the state, left 25 dead here while hundreds were killed in Uttarakhand.

Pratibha Singh apprised the prime minister of the initial estimates that put the loss to the state from the heavy rains at Rs.2,575 crore.

Besides human lives, she said, 10,000 head of cattle and other domestic animals have perished in the flash floods and 1,000 houses and 2,120 roads were severely damaged.

The MP, wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who got elected in the Mandi parliamentary bypoll June 30, said loss of standing crops has occurred in about 50,000 hectares.

She requested the prime minister to expedite construction of the strategically important all-weather Rohtang tunnel, beneath the majestic Rohtang Pass in Kullu district.

The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the Rohtang tunnel project in September 2009. The foundation stone was laid by Congress president Sonia Gandhi June 28, 2010.

The MP requested the prime minister to declare the Bilaspur-Leh via Manali railway line project as of national importance, keeping in view its economic and security importance.

She demanded adequate budgetary allocation for early completion of the Nangal-Talwara and Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri railways line.

Pratibha Singh also pleaded for the revival of the special industrial package to the state till 2020, on the pattern of special category states.

Official data shows that Himachal Pradesh got maximum investment in seven years, from 2003 to 2010, when there was a special industrial package of the central government.

Most investment was in pharmaceutical, food processing, textile, packaging and light engineering sectors.