The Himachal Government has demanded an aid of over Rs1,400 crore from National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) of Central Government to carry out relief and rescue operations in the rain-affected areas, including worst-affected Kinnaur district.
According to the preliminary report of losses and status of rescue and relief operations sent to the Centre, the State Government cited huge loss of life and property in the State due to the incessant rains and flash floods that struck the State from June 15 to June 17.
According to the report, till now total of 24 deaths have been reported, including 20 in Kinnaur, two in Sirmaur and two in Shimla and more than 10,000 animals have been reported to have perished due to excessive snowfall in higher reaches of Kinnaur district.
The report prepared on the basis of input provided by the field officials of the Government said that more than 600 houses have been partially or fully damaged incurring loss of private property to the tune of worth Rs50 crore.
The roads, being the lifeline of the State in the absence of rail and air networks, were said to be the worst affected with 2120 roads being damaged due to the rain incurring a loss of Rs600 crores. The report said that Indo-Tibet National Highway-22 life line of people of Kinnaur from Wangtu to Kaza has been worst damaged and may take over a month for restoration.
The report said that extensive damage has been reported to the agriculture land and crops in over 50,000 hectare of land has been destroyed completely while being the apple season the crop has been destroyed in another 50,000 hectare of land. The cumulative loss of over Rs450 crore has been reported for crops. The report said that it is a preliminary assessment of the loss and state seeks release of funds from NDRF as an interim measure to carry out relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations in the rain affected areas of the state.