Kangra (Himachal Pradesh), Sep 9 (IANS) Hours before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said he would raise the question of whether the development model in the hill states is sustainable and emphasised the need for a model to keep the mountains safe and protected.
He sought the formulation of a national policy for sustainable development in the hill states to protect the mountains from crumbling. The Chief Minister in his post on X said, “People welcome the PM on his visit to Himachal at a time when the state has witnessed unprecedented devastation during the monsoons. The beautiful state of Himachal is today suffering the pain of losing loved ones, villages being buried under debris and extensive damage to roads and electricity supply. Himachal has suffered immense pain since 2023,” he said.
Describing the Prime Minister as a guardian of the country, the Chief Minister said, “A very vital question that he would raise before the PM is whether the development model being followed in the hill states is sustainable”.
“The larger question is as to how we can save the mountains from the adverse impact of climate change. We need to have a sustainable development model which can protect the natural resources of the state and keep the mountains safe and protected,” CM Sukhu wrote.
Upon reaching Dharamsala, where the Prime Minister is coming, the Chief Minister said he saw an exhibition organised by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
“The outstanding work being done by the NDRF in the field of disaster management in a state grappling with adverse natural conditions is commendable,” said the Chief Minister in another post on X.
Prime Minister Modi is visiting flood-affected regions of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to review the ongoing disaster response and rehabilitation efforts following severe monsoon-triggered floods and landslides that have wreaked havoc across northern India.
An official privy to the visit told IANS that at the Gaggal airport near Kangra, where the Prime Minister is coming at around 2 p.m., he will meet 21 survivors of landslides and flash floods.
Eleven-month-old Neetika will be among the 21 survivors the Prime Minister meets. The little girl, now in the care of relatives, is the only surviving member of her family after the July disaster that ravaged the hill state, leaving hundreds of families homeless and tourists stranded.
Her presence, fragile yet unbroken, has come to symbolise both the devastation and the miracle of survival.
For Himachal Pradesh, she’s the face of a tragedy that statistics cannot capture. Also at the airport, the Prime Minister will be chairing a meeting with state and central government functionaries to review the damage and assess the loss from natural disasters.
Besides Chief Minister Sukhu, senior BJP leaders led by Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur and state party chief Rajeev Bindal are also set to attend the meeting.
PM Modi is expected to conduct an aerial survey of Mandi, Kullu and Chamba, the state’s worst-affected districts.
Ahead of leaving for two states, PM Modi wrote on X, “Leaving for Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to review the situation in the wake of floods and landslides. The Government of India stands shoulder to shoulder with those affected in this tragic hour.”
Chief Minister Sukhu has said the state has suffered a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore, with the maximum damage to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) highways. Also, state roads have been badly impacted.
Terrifying visuals of landslides sweeping away several multi-storey buildings and hundreds of people being evacuated and rescuers searching for people feared missing in the northern Himalayan state were common in the July, August and September calamity, which claimed 371 deaths, 41 missing and extensive infrastructure damage across the state.
–IANS
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