New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu called on Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari at New Delhi and apprised him of the massive damages caused by flash floods in the state.

Upon his visit to Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday, CM Sukhu sought support for the repair and reconstruction of damaged roads. He also urged the inclusion of a few roads under the PM Gati Shakti Yojana.

CM Sukhu also updated the Union Minister about the delays in National Highway projects due to various reasons and requested that the delays be addressed at the earliest and that construction works be initiated on the same.

The Chief Minister also stressed the need to adopt tunnelling in NH road projects and discussed the roads of strategic importance, which have already been raised with the Defence Ministry and urged for speedy action on them.

He also urged the sanctioning of more Ropeway projects for the state to ease traffic congestion.

Union Minister Gadkari assured the state of all possible assistance and gave necessary directions to the officers.

MLA Sunder Singh Thakur, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Secretary PWD Abhishek Jain, Principal Resident Commissioner Sushil Kumar Singla and officers of NHAI and the ministry were present.

Earlier, CM Sukhu met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday and apprised him that the state had suffered damages amounting to around Rs 1000 crore due to flash floods and cloudbursts, even as the monsoon had just begun, according to an official release.

He informed that precious lives had been lost and key infrastructure, including roads, bridges, buildings, irrigation schemes, water supply schemes and electricity supply systems, had been severely affected during this disaster.

The Chief Minister requested liberal support from the Central Government for relief and restoration works.

He further said that natural disasters had become a recurring phenomenon since 2023 and the state had incurred cumulative losses of approximately Rs 21,000 crore over the last three years, as per the release.

He added that the state government was making every effort to provide relief to the affected people through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

However, due to the repeated occurrence of such disasters, it had become increasingly difficult for the state to undertake restoration works and rebuild infrastructure with its limited resources. (ANI)