Shimla, September 18 (PTI) The eight-day-long monsoon session of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha started on a stormy note on Monday with opposition BJP staging a walkout after the Speaker rejected their adjournment motion, seeking a discussion on the monsoon calamity in the state.

Rejecting the motion of BJP members moved under Rule 67, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said that a notice from the government for discussing the damage caused by the rains had already been received under Rule 102, adding, "I am clubbing the two motions as the subject matter is similar”.

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However, the Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and BJP leader Vipin Parmar insisted that their motion was different and that the matter should be discussed putting off all other business as the loss and damage due to heavy rains and floods was colossal.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the government was seriously concerned over the issue and has brought a detailed resolution but the notice under Rule 67 given by the BJP was "politically motivated".

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He added that the former chief minister Shanta Kumar, the World Bank and NITI Aayog have lauded the efforts of the government in effectively dealing with the situation in the calamity-hit state.

When the speaker allowed Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sigh Sukhu to move the resolution, BJP MLAs started raising slogans and staged a walkout. However, they returned to the house after a few minutes.

Moving the resolution, Sukhu said that destruction was unprecedented but the state government faced the challenge boldly and besides restoring the services like water and power supply and opening roads, rescued the stranded people from inaccessible areas and also provided them relief.

Detailing the measures taken by the government, the chief minister said that besides rescuing 295 people, mostly tourists from Chandratal under sub-zero temperatures, 75,000 other stranded tourists were also rescued safely.

Asserting that no special package has been given by the Centre so far, Sukhu announced that the damages due to the monsoon would be borne by the state government and a special package would be introduced.

“Opening the roads is our top priority as the apples and other agri-produce has to be transported and the arrival of tourists would commence in October–November,” Sukhu said.

He added that the calamity in Himachal Pradesh was declared a “state disaster” and also urged the Centre to declare the devastation a “national disaster”, similar to the Kedarnath tragedy.

The chief minister said that the Congress MLAs have donated one month's salary towards the Aapada Rahat Kosh, a state disaster relief fund, while employees have donated a day's salary.

Several state governments and individuals have donated funds and even students have come forward for help but the BJP MLAs are yet to donate their salary, he added.

Thakur accused the state government of failing to provide relief to affected people and indulging in discrimination in the distribution of relief.

Taking a dig at Sukhu for claiming that the Centre did not help, Thakur said that the Central government was constantly helping the state, adding, "If everything is to be done by the Centre, what for is the state government here?"

Himachal Pradesh has got maximum help during the recent disaster which is unprecedented but the state got nothing when similar tragedies hit the state during the tenure of UPA I and II, Thakur claimed.

He said that the opposition was not being allowed to speak about the disaster inside or outside the house, even as the government had not prepared itself to deal with any adverse situation in advance.

The leader of the Opposition added that he had himself approached Home Minister Amit Shah for aid, after which the Central government sanctioned Rs 2,643 crore under the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna for the repair of roads in the flood-ravaged state but the roads are still closed due to which the apple and tourism industry have been badly hit.

However, Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh said that whatever the Centre has given to the state was due and no special financial assistance has been extended for the recent disaster.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)