Winter Session: Opposition BJP walks out of HP Assembly during discussion on disaster relief

Dharamshala/Shimla, Dec 3 (PTI) Dissatisfied with the reply of Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi during a discussion on disaster relief, the Opposition BJP walked out of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday after a heated exchange.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu criticised the conduct of the BJP members and urged Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania to take notice of it. He also urged the Speaker to expunge some comments of Opposition members against the minister.

The Speaker said he cannot give a ruling on the issue in the absence of a resolution.

The chief minister then said a censure motion would be brought in the House.

During a discussion on disaster relief, Negi said an application has been forwarded to the Registrar General of India to declare as dead the people who went missing during the flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides in the state during this year's monsoon. He said compensation would be given to the affected families after the approval of the Registrar.

Negi said Himachal Pradesh has been suffering an average loss of Rs 3,000 crore every year due to natural disasters. This year too, the state has sent a memorandum to the Centre pegging the loss at Rs 5,909 crore but it has not received any financial assistance so far.

The minister said the state government, with the assistance of World Bank, has started a Rs 2,650 crore infrastructure development project.

The National Centre for Seismology, the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and the Disaster Management Authority are working on a pilot project to set up earthquake early warning systems, he said.

Negi said the government had rolled out a relief package for the 2023 disaster victims.

This year, the state government released Rs 76.50 crore under its Special Relief Package to disaster-affected people in Mandi, Kullu and Bilaspur districts. Another Rs 1,209.90 crore would be spent under the National and State Disaster Relief Funds and Post-Disaster Needs Assessment, he added.

In order to minimise the impact of disasters, an agreement has been signed with AFD Agency France, under which Rs 892 crore would be spent, the revenue minister said.

The Opposition members said the reply was not satisfactory. They raised slogans and staged a walkout. PTI BPL RUK RUK