Monsoon floods caused Rs 300 crore loss to industry in Himachal: Industry Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 15 (ANI): The Industry Minister of Himachal Pradesh Harshvardhan Chauhan on Saturday said that the monsoon rains have caused a loss of over 300 crore rupees and infrastructural damages to the Industrial sector of the state.
He said that the state government is reviving after the losses and the production of industrial produce has also hampered. 
According to the Industry Minister of the state government, they are not able to transport out of state daily industrial produce of 400 crore rupees in Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority Area (BBNDA).
He said that this is causing a loss of 40 to 50 Crore rupees daily.
"The incessant rains that have hit Himachal Pradesh for three consecutive days have caused damage in most of the areas, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur. The roadways on the banks of the rivers have been completely washed away. Many link roads have also been broken by floods. In the industrial area, there has been a loss of about 300 crores in the industry area in which the biggest loss was about 110 crores in Nalagarh," Chauhan said.
"There is a loss of 60 crores in Baddi Barotiwala and a loss of about 21 crores in Kala Amb, in Taliwal Ambathu area there is a loss of 35 crores rupees. The road and infrastructure of the industrial area are all damaged and efforts are being made to repair them. We are trying to restore as soon as possible, but there has been large-scale devastation," the Industry Minister said.
"Production has also stopped in some industries and it is becoming difficult to send the finished products out of Himachal due to the closure of the road. Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh's Delhi turnover is about 400 crores in 1 day in Himachal Pradesh. The goods will not go out of Himachal and an amount of 40 to 50 crores rupees is lost in a day to industry area Himachal Pradesh. The efforts are being made to make the inflow and vehicular traffic run smoothly," Harshvardhan Chauhan added.
He said that multifarious reasons are responsible for the floods and strict actions will be taken to deal with the illegal mining and throwing muck in rivers and creeks. 
"Heavy downpour is the major reason for the multiple tragedies that have happened in Himachal Pradesh, apart from this, illegal mining is also responsible at some places, while illegal dumping on National Highways is also causing damage to that area. Efforts will be made that there is no illegal mining and the construction done on the banks of the rivers should also be restricted and the government should also take some steps in this regard," Chauhan said.
Talking about the increase of VAT on diesel he said that this decision has been taken in compulsion.
"This decision has been taken by the Chief Minister under compulsion due to the calamity. The prices of petrol and diesel in Himachal are very less as compared to other states like Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand. Right now this decision has been taken, maybe it is a temporary decision so that the state government can generate some revenue. Similar decisions will have to be taken in other areas to generate the revenue," Industry Minister further said. (ANI)