Himachal Pradesh Deputy CM takes stock of relief camps at Mandi amid monsoon fury

Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 11 : Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri took stock of the relief camps at Mandi on Tuesday as rains wreaked havoc in the hill state claiming 20 lives over the past 48 hours.

The Deputy Chief Minister reached the Sadar Vyas Relief Camp on Tuesday where arrangements have been made to accommodate 200 to 300 people. Agnihotri interacted with people, inquired about their difficulties, assured them that all necessary assistance would be provided to them soon.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that all possible help is being extended to people from the state government. He also appealed to the central government for help.

"These are the people whose houses have been affected by floods. Every possible help is being given to these people from our side and from the side of the administration, government assistance can also be announced. We want the central government to help us because the whole country is trying to extend a helping hand towards Himachal at this time. Only with the help of NDRF will not work, financial assistance should also be given to the government, we wanted the government to declare this as of now and provide some help," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that his team is visiting different areas of Himachal to review the situation. "We are visiting different areas of Himachal, at this time we have reached Mandi where the situation here is being reviewed, the officials are also present with us," he said.

Speaking about the problems faced by the hill state given the heavy rainfall, Agnihotri said, "Our routes have been affected due to heavy rains, due to which HRTC buses have been stopped and will be stopped till the situation becomes normal. There are some problems regarding drinking water, but we are constantly engaged in fixing them."

Addressing the tourists who are stuck at various places in the hill state, he said, "I want to tell the people of the tourists who are stuck here that there is nothing to worry about, the situation is normal...all the roads will be fixed, they will be allowed to move."

"Due to heavy rains, there was a communication breakdown along with voice, due to which we have provided satellite phones to our officers so that they can stay in touch with each other," he added.

He hoped that the situation would return to normal in some time, and said, "We are hopeful that the situation will return to normal in Himachal in the next 72 hours."

After the Deputy Chief Minister's visit, people said that Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has assured them that they would be brought out of this situation soon.

"The Deputy Chief Minister assured us that all kinds of help would be provided to us and we would be brought out of this situation," he said.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), on Tuesday, issued "red" and "orange" alerts for several districts of the hill state for the next 24 hours. The rains have wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh triggering landslides, causing power disruption, blocking roads, and damaging bridges. 

Tourists were stranded in parts of the hill state, with the loss of infrastructure estimated at between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs. 4,000 crore.

On Monday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the state has not seen such heavy rains in the last 50 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, spoke to the Himachal CM on the prevailing situation, assuring full support from the Centre.