Shimla, July 11 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, on his third day of visit to Mandi district on Friday, toured disaster-affected areas in the Seraj and Nachan Assembly constituencies and took stock of the damage.

Talking to the media in Sundernagar town, the Chief Minister said the government acted swiftly to restore essential services in the affected areas. He said the government has opened almost all major roads in these areas, and the work of opening link roads was going on a war footing. He said 50 JCB machines have been deployed to reopen roads from the very first day of the disaster.

He said the road up to Chail Chowk, Bagsyad, Thunag, Janjehli and Chhatri would be brought under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) so that it could be made a composite road. He said the road and bridges from Thunag to Janjehli have suffered extensive damage. At present, it has been restored temporarily, and there will be no shortage of money for restoration works. The government has so far released Rs 7 crore for these relief and rescue works so that the restoration work can be accelerated further.

He said the Deputy Chief Minister and the PWD Minister had already visited and assessed the damage in the affected areas. The Chief Minister said there has been an unprecedented loss in these areas, and the government and the district administration have been providing relief and other materials to the affected families day and night. He said livestock, crops and vegetables have also suffered a lot due to this disaster.

The Chief Minister said the government would provide compensation to the affected families for buying clothes and also for loss of livestock, besides all possible help from its own resources. Sukhu said he would seek permission from the Central government to give forest land to the people so that they could be settled in a safer place. He urged the BJP MPs of the state to support the government’s proposal to get permission from the Central government so that people can be settled in a safe place.

Sukhu said that in the next two days, Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani would be in the disaster-affected areas and would take stock of the relief and rescue operations there. He said if the affected families live in rented houses, the state government will give them Rs 5,000 per month rent in rural areas and Rs 10,000 per month rent in urban areas. He said heavy rains have also caused a lot of damage in the Dharampur area of Mandi district as well, and MLA Chandrashekhar was helping the people day and night in relief and rescue operations.

–IANS

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