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Recently, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhoo of Himachal Pradesh announced a special relief package to assist families affected by heavy rainfall. Under this package, the compensation amount has been increased by up to 25 times. The state government is spending a total of 4,500 crores to deal with the disaster. On August 18, 2023, the entire Himachal Pradesh was declared a natural disaster-affected area.
The state government will provide financial assistance of 50,000 rupees to each affected cattle shed instead of the previous 3,000 rupees per shed. Due to the disaster, 8,300 cattle sheds in the state have been damaged. In this monsoon season, there have been deaths of 96 cows and buffaloes, 16 horses and mules, and 6 foals. The assistance amount for them has been increased to 55,000 rupees, which was previously 37,500 rupees, 34,000 rupees, and 20,000 rupees, respectively. The compensation for the death of sheep or goats has also been increased from 4,000 rupees to 6,000 rupees.
Agriculture and horticulture areas have also suffered heavy losses due to the disaster. The compensation for eligible agricultural and horticultural land, which was previously provided at 3,615 rupees per acre, has been increased to 10,000 rupees. Additionally, the compensation for crop damage, which was previously 500 rupees per acre, has been increased eightfold to 4,000 rupees. Financial assistance for removing silt from agricultural and horticultural land, previously provided at 1,384.61 rupees per acre, has been increased to 5,000 rupees per acre. As a result of the disaster, 37,899 acres of agricultural land and 17,947 acres of horticultural land in the state have suffered losses, while crops on 26,490 acres have been damaged. Moreover, 42 acres have been affected due to silt, causing damage to agricultural and horticultural land.