Ashish Negi

Rampur, August 3
Minister for Public Works Department (PWD) Vikramaditya Singh visited Samej village near Rampur in Shimla district today and inspected the cloudburst site. He met with cloudburst-affected villagers, who briefed him about the devastating incident.
The minister announced that two bailey bridges would be set up in Samej village and the equipment for the purpose had already been ordered for. The bridges would become operational within a few days to facilitate local transportation. Besides, additional machinery was being deployed to accelerate search and rescue operations and the department concerned had been given instructions.
Vikramaditya said that it was a heart-wrenching tragedy and the government was committed to helping the affected people. “The state government is providing all possible assistance. A search operation is underway to locate missing persons though heavy debris poses a significant challenge. The search is being conducted over an area of 85 km with the involvement of personnel of the NDRF, SDRF, Army, paramilitary forces, police, Home Guards and the Fire Department.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, during a visit to Samej village yesterday, announced an immediate relief of ?50,000 for the disaster-affected families and ?5,000 for three moths to rent accommodation. He also urged the Centre to provide generous financial assistance to Himachal for disaster management. — TNS