NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed the formation of a multi-sectoral central team to visit Himachal Pradesh in view of the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in the state, officials said on Sunday.
The officials stated that the team would comprise experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, a Geologist, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore.
“The Union Home Minister’s direction came following a recent meeting in which he was apprised that Himachal Pradesh has witnessed an increase in the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides and torrential rainfall, causing widespread loss of life, damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and environmental degradation,” a senior official of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
He said, further, in the wake of floods, flash floods and landslides during the South West monsoon 2025 in different parts of the state, the Centre has already deputed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) in advance, without waiting for their memorandum, for on-the-spot, first-hand assessment of the damages.
The IMCT has already started their visit to the affected areas on July 18 and would travel in the state till July 21, he said. He added that a high-level committee chaired by the Home Minister has already approved an outlay of Rs 2,006.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh for recovery and reconstruction in areas affected by disasters for the year 2023, and has also released the first installment of Rs 451.44 crore on July 7 this year.
The Centre has also provided all logistic assistance to all states, including Himachal Pradesh. The logistic measures include deployment of requisite National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Army teams and Air Force support.
Later in a statement the MHA said, according to the Himachal Pradesh’s State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), around 119 human lives have been lost across the state since the onset of the monsoon season on June 20.
The state has experienced severe disruptions to public infrastructure, with 146 roads still blocked, 28 power transformers out of service, and 58 water supply schemes affected, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) report released on July 19.
On July 15, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had met with the Union Home Minister and gave him the details about the damage caused by the monsoon in the state with a request seeking central assistance.