Munish Sood
MANDI: Himachal Pradesh Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jagat Singh Negi has voiced strong concerns over the Rs 1,500 crore special relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the disaster-hit hill state.
Jagat Negi said the package is far from adequate, given the extent of devastation Himachal has faced and stressed that the state urgently requires untied financial assistance to rebuild lives and infrastructure.
In an interview to a media house, the minister was candid in his remarks, saying that conditional or scheme-bound assistance would fail to bring meaningful relief.
“If the Centre imposes restrictions and ties the package to different schemes, then Himachal will not gain much. We want untied budgetary support, so that the state government can use it for immediate priorities like repairing roads, restoring electricity and water and directly helping the affected families,” he said.
Negi recalled that in 2023, the central relief was far smaller than the losses, comparing it to “a cumin seed in a camel’s mouth.” He warned against repeating the same approach this year.
Losses mount beyond Rs 4,500 crore
Sharing ground realities, Negi revealed that this year alone, Himachal has suffered damages worth over Rs 4,500 crore due to heavy rains, landslides and flashfloods. The toll has been grim — 380 people lost their lives, while 1,392 houses were reduced to rubble and over 6,000 cowsheds collapsed. Thousands of shops, huts and homes have suffered partial damage, leaving families homeless and livelihoods shattered.
He reminded that the state was yet to fully recover from the Rs 14,000 crore losses of 2023, when even central teams had estimated damages above Rs 10,000 crore, but the Centre had sanctioned only Rs 1,500 crore.
Negi acknowledged Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Himachal on September 9, when the PM conducted an aerial survey of affected districts and interacted with survivors. Modi had assured that further support would follow after central team assessments.
“We welcome the Prime Minister’s concern, but this was said in 2023 as well. That year, despite a high-level assessment, the aid stopped at Rs 1,500 crore. Himachal cannot afford to be left in the same position again,” Negi remarked.
During the visit, the Prime Minister had met 18 families, including one-year-old Nitika, who lost her parents and grandmother in the Mandi cloudburst.
Negi also underlined the precarious financial health of the state. Himachal currently carries a debt burden of nearly Rs 98,000 crore, and frequent natural disasters are forcing the government to divert resources towards relief and rehabilitation.
“The state is compelled to take fresh loans even to service old ones. If disasters keep striking every year and central support remains inadequate, the burden will only worsen,” he explained.
Despite its financial stress, the Himachal government has rolled out its own relief package. Families who have lost their homes completely are being given Rs 7 lakh each, while partially damaged houses will receive Rs 1 lakh. Additional compensation is being provided for livestock, household items, orchards, and crops.
Among districts, Mandi has suffered the most destruction, followed by Kullu, Kangra, Chamba, Una and Shimla. Roads, power lines, and water schemes have been washed away, compounding the misery of affected communities.
