Shimla:

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has demanded the Union government to declare the disaster in Himachal as a national disaster. Chief Minister Sukhu said that he had put forth this demand with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 dinner. He also demanded a special package for the state.

“The state government is continuously demanding the central government that the disaster here should be declared a national disaster. Also, the Central Government should give a special relief package to Himachal, but till now both demands have been ignored,” Chief Minister Sukhu said.

The Chief Minister said that he will give appropriate answers to every question of the opposition in the monsoon session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.

Chief Minister Sukhu expressed his gratitude to Priyanka Gandhi for her visit to the state. He said that Priyanka Gandhi took time out from her busy schedule to come to Himachal and meet the disaster-affected people.

The Chief Minister said that Priyanka Gandhi’s “eyes were filled with tears” after meeting the disaster-affected people at many places.

He said that there has been huge devastation in the state due to heavy rain and flood. He said that the government is making changes in the manual to provide relief to the disaster affected.

Recently, the state government has asked to pay the house rent to the people who lost their houses. In this, every month Rs 5,000 in rural areas and Rs 10,000 in urban areas will be provided by the government till 31 March 2024, he said.

He said that many people lost their land in the disaster. Now such people have land in the revenue records, but the place at ground zero is not suitable for living. The government will also make changes in such rules and will work to provide relief to the disaster-affected, he added.

The Chief Minister said that he has instructed all the District Deputy Commissioners to ensure that relief is provided to the disaster-affected people and no one is left wanting.

He said that recently the matter of reducing import duty on Washington Apple has come to light. This will have a negative impact on all the gardeners of Himachal Pradesh, he said.

He said that the state government would also provide land and change the rules to provide disaster manual help to the affected people.

“The farmers who have lost cattle herds and crops will also be helped and all deputy Commissioners have also been directed to announce the disaster affected areas,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Rescuers remove mud and debris as they search for people feared trapped after a landslide near a temple on the outskirts of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh state, Monday, August 14, 2023. Heavy monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in India’s Himalayan region, leaving more than a dozen people dead and many others trapped, officials said Monday.
| Photo Credit: AP

Torrential rains that have battered India’s Himalayas in recent years, killing hundreds of people and causing billions of dollars worth of damage, are becoming more intense due to a clash of weather systems triggered by global warming, scientists said.

At least 240 people have died this year in the mountainous region as landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy rains buried homes and destroyed crops and infrastructure.

Seasonal monsoon showers are vital for India’s $3-trillion economy, bringing nearly 70% of the rain the country needs to water farms and refill reservoirs and aquifers.

But the monsoon’s convergence with a low-pressure weather system in the Himalayas in recent years has caused extremely heavy rains, something that scientists and officials have blamed on rising temperatures.

Also Read | Himachal Pradesh government declares incessant rain as State calamity

“Think of it as a collision of two forceful systems,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the India Meteorological Department’s regional centre in New Delhi.

“It causes significant rain, or even cloudbursts … we are noticing in the last few years, intense spells of rain lasting short durations,” he said, adding that this was due climate change driven by global increase in temperatures.

The number of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall days per decade in India’s Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and neighbouring Uttarakhand increased to 118 between 2011 and 2020 from 74 in the preceding decade, data from the weather office showed.

At least 166 people have died in HP and 74 in Uttarakhand this year since June in landslides, flash floods and other rain-related incidents, according to government data.

Rains battered the two states following the convergence of the monsoon system with Western Disturbances, a weather system that originates in the Mediterranean Sea and moves east, bringing moisture-laden winds that cause winter rain and snow in the Himalayas.

Western Disturbances usually pass north of India’s northern border between the summer and monsoon months of June and October, but, as temperatures rise, some of them move slightly south, said V.P. Dimri, director of the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism.

“Because of sea surface temperature warming, the Western Disturbances have more energy … similarly, general warming of the earth is also leading to change in wind motions,” he added.

Monsoon rainfall patterns across India have seen a climatic shift in the recent decades, said Roxy Mathew Koll, a scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

“The most significant change is that instead of having moderate rains spread out through the monsoon season, we have long dry periods intermittent with short spells of heavy rains,” Koll said.

Report picture of a farmer protective his hard paddy from rains by means of protecting it in plastic sheet
| Photograph Credit score: VIJAY SONEJI

Farmers from the flood-ravaged States in north Republic of India have introduced to bundle in Union Dimension of Chandigarh on August 22 to press for instant reimbursement from the Centre executive.

Farmers related to as many as 16 farmer outfits from the States Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand could be taking part within the demonstration of their display of energy. Farmer outfits are not easy an instantaneous shed of reimbursement for flooding sufferers in the entire States, that have perceivable the flooding anger within the ongoing monsoon season.

The outfits come with — Kissan Majdoor Sangarsh Committee, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Karantikari), BKU Ekta-Azaad, Azaad Kissan Committee (Doaba), BKU (Bheramke), BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), BKU (Sir Chotu Ram), Bharti Kissan Majdor Union, Kissan Maha Panchayat (Haryana), Pagri Sambhal Jatta (Haryana), Azaad Kissan Union (Haryana), Ambitious Farmer Entrance, Aathrai Kissan Manch, Bhoomi Bachao Mohim, Joint Kisan Sabha and Rashtriya Kissan Sangathan.

Additionally learn | North Republic of India extra suffering from El Nino

“The Centre government has been indifferent towards our problems, and hence we have decided to stage a demonstration to wake the government,” Sarwan Singh Pandher, normal secretary of the Punjab unit of Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee.

He stated the Central executive will have to announce a distinct bundle of ₹50,000 crores for the wear brought about by means of floods in North Republic of India, but even so a reimbursement of ₹50,000 in step with acre will have to be given for the lack of all plants. “The government should also pay ₹1 lakh for the loss of cattle, arrangements should be made for mining of fields that have been filled with sand due to floods, and all loans and interest should be waived for one year. These are our few demands among others,” he stated.

One at a time, the All Republic of India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has additionally expressed fear over the frequent devastate brought about by means of a new spate of bulky rains and cloud bursts in numerous portions of Himachal Pradesh.

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