A senior Himachal Pradesh official on Tuesday met Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and urged him to ensure a special central package for the state as it tries to recover from the damage caused by an unprecedented monsoon.
Kewal Singh Pathania, Vice-Chairman of the State Forest Development Corporation, told Gandhi that rainfall from June 15 to 17 this year in HP had been a record 576 to 1,358 per cent above normal.
As a result of the heavy showers, massive damage had been faced by private and public property. Fifty persons lost their lives and the cumulative losses suffered by the state had been estimated at Rs 2,852 crore, he added.
“The special package demanded by HP government from the Centre is still pending while major restoration works are still to be carried out,” Pathania told Gandhi.