Rs four crore loss due to cloudburst in Chamba

Chamba, Jun 26 (UNI) The estimated loss to Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh due to yesterday's cloudburst has been pegged at over Rs four crore, official sources today said.

The estimated loss to the district has been arrived at by the senior revenue officials who visited the affected villages today, the sources said.

At least six houses and six livestock were swept away by the swollen waters of two irrigation canals after a cloudburst triggered flash floods in Naun and Haripur villages early yesterday morning.

The sources said the swirling waters also swept away a scooter and three motorcycles besides vast chunk of agricultural land in the district.

Meanwhile, the state government today released a sum of Rs 45 lakh as immediate relief to the district due to the cloudburst.

Of the total relief, a sum of Rs 15 lakh had been sanctioned to Chamba DC for distributed among the affected families, Rs 15 lakh to the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department and Rs 10 lakh for the PWD to carry out restoration work in the district.

Presiding over a meeting to review the situation due to the flash floods in the district, state Chief Secretary S S Parmas said Chamba DC has been directed to hold departmental meetings and to take effective steps to restore water supply and road communication as soon as possible.

He said the state government was keeping a constant watch on the situation and additional funds would also be released after assessing the actual damages.

Sungal, Naun, Koha, Sei, Bhadram, Haripur, Samryali, Nakhli, Rajpura and Sarol villages of the district have suffered maximum damage due to the calamity, he said.

Mr Parmar said though no loss of life has been reported in the incident, over 6,800 people in over 750 hectare of land have been affected due to the cloudburst.

The loss to water supply schemes, roads, village paths, government buildings and natural water sources was minimal, he said.

He said the district administration has announced a relief of Rs 2,000 each to those people whose houses have been damaged.

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