Grateful to Priyanka for writing to PM for calamity-hit Himachal: CM Sukhu

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said he was grateful to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for strongly advocating for the calamity-hit state in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He thanked her for her appeal to the prime minister to declare the destruction caused by heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh a "national disaster", just like the Kedarnath tragedy of 2013.

Close on the heel of her two-day visit to flood and landslide-hit areas of Mandi, Kullu and Shimla districts, Gandhi sent a letter to the prime minister on Friday, detailing the destruction suffered by the hill state during the ongoing monsoon.

The Congress leader, in her letter, also sought financial assistance for providing relief to the victims and their families as well as for rebuilding the state.

"I was pained to see the plight of affected people during my visit to rain-affected areas," Gandhi said in her letter," she wrote to Modi.

She added that the state is facing an unprecedented crisis and "this disaster should be declared a national disaster like the Kedarnath tragedy of 2013 and financial assistance should be provided to the victims and the state so that the brothers and sisters of Himachal get relief and the state can be properly rebuilt".

During this tragedy, when the people of Himachal Pradesh are looking for help, the reduction in import duty on foreign apples by the Centre will be a double economic blow to the apple farmers and orchardists of the state, she said.

"In my understanding, farmers should not be dealt such a blow in this difficult time, rather if the farmers of Himachal get some kind of financial help from the central government, they will get relief," Gandhi added in her letter to Modi.

According to a statement issued here on Saturday, the state suffered losses of around Rs 12,000 crore. Unprecedented rains, triggering flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Himachal Pradesh damaged around 13,000 houses, disrupted movement on national highways and roads and caused extensive damage to public and private property.

The chief minister said this worst-ever catastrophe led to huge loss of human lives besides major losses to farmers due to inundation of huge patches of agricultural land in the state.

Reiterating Gandhi's appeal, Sukhu urged that the Union Government took cognisance of the losses suffered by the Himachal Pradesh and soon declare the calamity as a 'national disaster' so that affected people could be helped and adequately compensated.

Since the onset of monsoon on June 24 in the hill state till September 15, 432 persons have lost their lives -- 273 in rain-related incidents and 159 in road accidents, the emergency operation centre said.