'Demand for declaring Himachal crisis a national disaster to be raised in Parl'

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said Mandi MP Pratibha Singh would raise in the special session of Parliament the demand for declaring the recent calamity in Himachal Pradesh a national disaster reported news agency PTIHowever Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she was not sure if Singh who is also the Himachal Congress chief would be allowed to raise the demand during the sessionA special session of Parliament will be held from September 18 to 22We do not know what the session is about and whether she Pratibha Singh would be allowed to raise the issue or not but even if this does not happen we should make a strong representation to the Centre on it and the Congress would fully support it the Congress general secretary told reporters during her visit to the Shiva temple site in Summer HillTwenty people were killed in the landslide at the Shiva temple on August 14Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also met the families affected by the landslideThree landslides had claimed 27 lives in Shimla city with Fagli and Krishnanagar slides claiming five and two livesThe Congress leader also visited the Krishnanagar landslide site and met the displaced familiesShe said there are several issues like restoration of national highways which can be fixed only by the National Highways Authority of India NHAI and declaring the destruction following heavy rains a national disaster would facilitate restoration works in the stateNo one would like to do politics at this hour and everyone should come forward for help she said and asked the Centre to rise above party politics and help Himachal Pradesh without taking into consideration whether there is a Congress or BJP government in the stateSlamming the governments move to lower import duty on American apples she said the Centre is not fully aware of the extent of the damage in the state and the move would encourage imports and hit the local apple growers who have already suffered due to rainsThe situation in Himachal Pradesh is very painful and the state has suffered huge losses The Union government seems to be unable to understand the gravity of the situation in the state she said and added that big business houses were offering lower prices for the purchase of apple produce in HimachalHowever in a statement issued here on Wednesday BJP state chief Rajiv Bindal said that Congress leaders are telling lies and asked where is the notification regarding cut in import dutyHe said that the people of Himachal are still waiting for the guarantees announced by the Congress on the eve of 2022 assembly polls to be fulfilled The women are asking for Rs 1500 per month while youths are waiting for five lakh jobsPriyanka Gandhi Vadra who is on a twoday visit to the rain affected areas of Kullu Mandi Shimla and Solan districts had visited Mandi and Kullu on Tuesday and urged the Centre to declare the calamity due to heavy rains a national disasterMany houses have been swept away and extensive damage has been caused she saidShe reiterated that the people of Himachal have set an example for the nation by uniting and coming to the forefront to help the affected families People in the state have come forward to donate for those hit by natural calamities and even did shram dan physical labour to open roads washed out by rains or blocked by landslidesThough the state government is using its limited resources to provide succour to the affected families it is difficult to restore normalcy and complete renovation works besides providing aid to the people without Central help the Congress leader saidThe Himachal BJP on Tuesday hit out at Priyanka Gandhi for visiting the calamityhit state after two months and said Thanks you spared time for this rain and landslidehit state after two monthsFlash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains had wreaked havoc in Kullu Mandi Shimla and Solan districts in the months of July and AugustSince the onset of monsoon on June 24 till September 12 Himachal Pradesh has suffered losses of Rs 8679 crore About 270 people have died in rainrelated incidents according to the state emergency operation centreAs many as 165 landslides and 72 flash floods were reported during the monsoon season Out of the 111 deaths in landslides 94 were reported in Kullu Mandi Shimla and Solan districts while 18 out of 19 deaths due to flash floods were also witnessed in these districtsChief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu who pegged the losses at Rs 12000 crore has already urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the calamity in the hill state a national disasterWith inputs from PTI