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Central team visits disaster-hit areas in Mandi
The initial assessment by the district administration has estimated a loss of approximately ₹213.22 crore in the district during this year’s rainy season
To assess the damage caused by cloudbursts, floods and landslides during this year’s monsoon, an inter-ministerial central team visited the affected areas in Himachal’s Mandi district on Thursday.
The initial assessment by the district administration has estimated a loss of approximately ₹213.22 crore in the district during this year’s rainy season. The eight-member team headed by joint secretary of the ministry of home affairs, Mihir Kumar, took stock of the damage in Rajban village located in Chauhar valley of Drang assembly constituency and two other villages near Mandi district headquarters.
The central team is on a three day visit to Himachal Pradesh. In Rajban, team members also interacted with affected families.
Following this, a review meeting was held at the deputy commissioner’s office where the central team discussed the damage with relevant departments and district administration. Mihir Kumar said that visiting the affected areas clarifies the severity of the damage. He emphasised that natural disasters particularly increase difficulties for the general public in hilly regions. He stressed the importance of optimising resources and ensuring that the best possible use is made of available capacities in such situations and assured that the information and suggestions gathered will be included in the report along with facts.
The chairman of the district disaster management authority and Mandi deputy commissioner (DC) Apoorv Devgan presented an overview of the damage caused during the monsoon in the district. “The heavy rainfall resulted in a cloudburst in Rajban village, leading to the loss of 10 lives. While nine bodies have been recovered, one person is still missing,” he said, while urging the central team to provide special exemptions for compensation to missing persons according to the relief manual, as done last year, to ensure timely assistance for affected families. The estimated loss in the Rajban area due to the cloudburst is at ₹11.92 crores.
He informed that the public works department suffered the most significant loss, estimated at approximately ₹130.47 crores while the Jal Shakti department also estimated a loss of around ₹68.24 crores.
As per the details shared by the administration, the revenue department in the district faced a loss of ₹2.93 crores, the state electricity board ₹1.55 crores, the education department ₹1.67 crores and the agriculture department an estimated ₹1.02 crores this monsoon.
In addition, the overall estimated damage to public and private property, including departments of horticulture, rural development, panchayati raj, health, fisheries and the municipal corporation of Mandi, is around ₹213.22 crores, with 51 precious lives lost during this year’s monsoon.
