343 died, Rs 1,600 crore lost in HP due to rains, untimely snowfall this monsoon: CM

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said Tuesday the state had suffered a loss of Rs 1,600 crore since July 1 this year due to monsoon rains and untimely snowfall in tribal areas that also claimed 343 lives.

The chief minister said this while presiding over the meeting of an inter-ministerial central team at Mandi, which is on a state visit to assess the damages caused to the state due to untimely snowfall and heavy rains.

Thakur said the Public Works Department (PWD) suffered major losses due to damages to roads and bridges. The total losses on this account have been assessed at around Rs 930 crore.

He said 405 incidents of landslides and 34 cloudbursts were reported in the state. The Irrigation and Public Health department suffered losses worth Rs 430 crore while damages to agriculture crops and infrastructures cost Rs 130.37 crore, he added.

The chief minister said that 343 people lost their lives due to flash floods, landslides, cloud bursts and road accidents -- all during the monsoon fury.

The state government has provided ex-gratia of worth Rs 13.72 crore for the loss of human life, Thakur said.

Thakur said that as many as 4,033 people were rescued by different means from Chamba, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts between September 3 to October 1, 2018.

He thanked the Union government in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular for providing all possible help to ensure relief and rehabilitation work in the state.

It was on the request of the state government, Thakur said, that seven Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters were provided to the state to airlift the stranded people in Lahul-Spiti and Chamba districts. He said that as many as 292 people were airlifted from these districts.

The CM urged the inter-ministerial central team to recommend for maximum support from the Centre keeping in view the gravity of losses and damages suffered by the state which were "worst in the last 10 years".