Indian National Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi has urged the Centre to declare Himachal’s natural calamity as National Disaster.

“In such difficult times, the Central government should not discriminate between the states on party lines,” she said, adding it becomes the duty of the Union government to provide aid in such circumstances, analyzing the impact of the disaster.

She said the Centre should declare such a massive catastrophe as a ‘National Disaster’ and should immediately come forward for the help of the affected.

Priyanka Gandhi, along with Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, visited the calamity-hit areas of the Kullu district on Tuesday and interacted with the affected people who narrated their woes to them.

Both the leaders visited Sangam Bridge on the confluence of River Parvati and Beas at Bhuntar and at Potato ground at Manali, the areas badly devastated by the fury of floods triggered by torrential rains.

While interacting with the media at Manali, Priyanka Gandhi lauded the efforts of the people of the state who had come forward in this hour of distress by voluntarily contributing towards the Aapda Rahat Kosh to help the affected population.

She said the people of Himachal have set an example for the nation by uniting and coming to the forefront to help the affected families.

Lauding the efforts of the chief minister and his Cabinet colleagues who closely monitored the relief and rescue operations, she said that though the state government was doing far beyond its limited resources to provide succour to the affected families, without the assistance of the Union government it was rather difficult to bring normalcy and undertake renovation works, besides providing aid to the people.

She said that even the farmers and horticulturalists of the state have suffered enormous losses and the Centre should pay heed towards their plight as well. Some big industrial houses, dealing in fruit marketing, have reduced the price of the apple crop thereby causing losses to the horticulturalists.

The Centre has also reduced the import duty on the Washington apple, which will also directly affect the horticulturalists of the state, thereby causing losses to them. “The Central leadership should also think about the benefits of the farmers and horticulturalists of the state,” she asserted.

The chief minister said during his recent visit to Delhi, he met the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi at a dinner hosted by the President for the members of G-20 Nations and detailed Modi about the damages caused.

“I again urged the prime minister to declare the Himachal’s calamity as a National Disaster”, said Sukhu.

He said even Union minister Nitin Gadkari has personally monitored the flood hit regions and today the INC general secretary has herself witnessed the colossal damages caused by the unprecedented rains triggering floods and landslides in Himachal.

The chief minister said that the state government has sent the claims of the damages to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore till 10 August 2023 and thereafter between 10 to 14 August 2023, the second spell of heavy rains also caused enormous damages taking the losses to around 12000 crore.

The chief minister said that without a second thought, the Centre should voluntarily extend the financial support for the people of the state.