The Uttarakhand government has sought a relief package of Rs 800
crore in the wake of a series of natural disasters caused by heavy rains
that has wreaked havoc in the hill state.
“We have already sent an official memorandum to the Centre for a
relief package of Rs 800 crore,” a top government official said on
Thursday. The state has already got an interim relief of Rs 150 crore.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna is expecting Congress President Sonia
Gandhi to visit the affected areas and make a suitable recommendation
for the financial package to the state. The Centre is likely to take a
decision on the relief package only after the October 10 Tehri
parliamentary by-election, the official said.
Heavy rains during the monsoon season brought death and destruction
in the hill state. Nearly 150 people were killed and hundreds more
rendered homeless, as homes and villages were flattened by cloudbursts
coupled with heavy landslides.
Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts bore the brunt of the disasters.
Hundreds of people have taken refuge in camps at Rudraprayag, while
others are recuperating from injuries in hospitals. Besides the heavy
loss of life, the rains also destroyed roads, bridges and other
infrastructure.
In 2010, over 200 people were killed in such disasters for which then
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had sought a package of Rs
21,000 crore. But the centre only provided Rs 500 crore to the state.
During the past three years, more than 400-500 people have died due
to heavy monsoon rains in the state’s fragile Himalayan ecology.
But despite the enormity of such disasters, there are still no
long-term plans to counter them. “We cannot do much since it is very
difficult to predict the exact location of cloudbursts or landslides,”
said a top government official.
The state’s rescue machinery usually lacks speed, apparently due to
remote and inaccessible areas where such calamities are common, say
experts.
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