CM Sukhu met with Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, in New Delhi on Friday evening to seek special relief measures for Himachal Pradesh in the wake of recent natural disasters.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister of the widespread devastation caused by cloudbursts and heavy rains across the state. He detailed the extensive damage to buildings, roads, bridges, water supply schemes, residential properties, and most tragically, the loss of human lives.
Given that 68 percent of Himachal Pradesh is under forest cover, the Chief Minister urged the Centre to relax existing forest norms to enable the rehabilitation of disaster-affected families, many of whom have been rendered homeless and landless. He specifically requested the allocation of one bigha of land per family for resettlement purposes.
Sukhu also discussed the issue of river dredging and requested that clear guidelines be issued for the disposal of dredged materials, which can aid in preventing future disasters. He stressed the need for separate and more flexible environmental norms for hill states, citing the state’s challenging topography and unique vulnerabilities to climate-induced calamities.
The Chief Minister further informed the Union Minister about the increasing frequency of cloudbursts and extreme weather events, attributing them to climate change. He noted that the issue had also been raised with the Union Home Minister and that a Central team had already visited the state to assess the situation.
Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, MLAs Sanjay Awasthy and Suresh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) K.K. Pant, Principal Resident Commissioner Ajay Yadav, and senior officers from both the State Government and the Ministry were also present at the meeting.
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