Himachal Pradesh Congress President and Member of Parliament Pratibha Singh on Wednesday met the families of the deceased persons who were killed in the recent tragic bus accident in Kullu district’s Sainj Valley.

As the area comes under her parliamentary constituency Mandi, she provided monetary relief to the affected families. She assured them that she along with the Congress party stands with them in this hour of grief and will provide all possible help to them.

Twelve persons were killed on the spot in the private bus accident on 4 July.

Earlier, Pratibha Singh, while inspecting the site of the bus accident, expressed concern over the poor condition of the road.

Emphasizing the need to pay special attention to the clogged roads due to rain, she said that there is a need for maintenance and improvement of roads in this area from time to time.

She directed the officials of the Public Works Department and Hydroelectric Project Officers in Sainj Valley to do the same.

“Special safety measures should be taken and accident-prone areas need to be identified,” she said, adding that parapets and crash barriers should be installed on the roadside to avoid any accident.

Pratibha Singh also asked the power project officers to constitute a quick disaster force in this area so that there is no delay in relief work in the future in case of any such calamity or accident.

While expressing displeasure with the officials of NHPC and Power Corporation she said that it is unfortunate that those people who gave up their land to build these projects have been ignored during the time of calamity and no help was available to them on time.

She also ordered the officials of the local Public Works Department to identify the black spots on the Sainj Shanshar road and asked to put crash barriers on the roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana.

Pratibha Singh further directed the officials of the Transport Department to run additional buses for the remote and inaccessible areas.

She announced Rs 2 lakh from her MP fund for the construction of a road in the inaccessible Panchayat Gada Parli on the demand of the local people.