Priyanka Gandhi reaches Himachal, to visit rain-battered areas

Shimla, Sep 12 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday reached Himachal Pradesh for her daylong visit to the rain-battered state, which recorded over 400 deaths since the onset of the monsoon.

Accompanying Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Priyanka flew to Kullu for her visit to areas in Kullu and Mandi, state's worst affected districts. Later in the day, she will visit Solan district.

Priyanka is accompanied by party in-charge Rajeev Shukla and state party president Pratibha Singh during the visit.

Earlier, she was received by the Chief Minister on arrival at the Chandigarh airport.

As per the Chief Minister's office, she will visit Manali, Kullu and Pandoh areas where she will interact with families suffering due to flashfloods and landslides. She is likely to visit rain-affected areas of Shimla on October 13.

Chief Minister Sukhu has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the rain-disaster in the state as a national calamity and sought a special relief package.

Sukhu had met the Prime Minister at the dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on the occasion of the G20 Summit in New Delhi on Saturday and apprised him of the severe damage caused to infrastructure and the loss of lives due to heavy rain in July and August.

He informed the Prime Minister that over 400 people had lost their lives due to the calamity and over 13,000 houses had been damaged, leaving thousands of families homeless.

As a result of the disaster, the state has suffered a cumulative loss of over Rs 12,000 crore, Sukhu told Modi.