Shimla, July 10 -- Acknowledging the frequency of climate-induced disasters in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday announced that the state would develop disaster-resilient infrastructure at an estimated cost of Rs 3,500 crore to strengthen its ability to withstand natural calamities and minimise losses.

Addressing the valedictory session of the high-level workshop on "Towards Resilience Infrastructure Planning in the Western Himalaya" at the Dr Manmohan Singh Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) in Shimla, the Chief Minister said the hill state, owing to its difficult geographical conditions, had become increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters.

Recalling the devastating disaster of 2023, Sukhu said nearly 75,000 tourists had been stranded across the state. The government, however, ensured their safe evacuation and restored essential services on a war footing. He particularly appreciated Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi and MLA Sanjay Awasthi for personally leading the rescue operation that evacuated around 300 stranded tourists from Chandratal Lake.

The Chief Minister said the 2023 disaster had damaged around 23,000 houses and claimed 51 lives. Standing firmly with the affected families, the government introduced major changes in the relief policy by increasing compensation for fully damaged houses from Rs 1.30 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

He said the lessons learnt from the 2023 tragedy had enabled the government to respond more effectively during the 2025 disaster, resulting in comparatively lower losses despite the severity of the situation.

Sukhu maintained that the increasing incidence of cloudbursts in the state was linked to climate change and enhanced evaporation from reservoirs created by large dams. He warned that other states could face similar challenges in the coming years and stressed the need for bold policy decisions and changes in development practices to mitigate losses.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister released the report titled Towards Resilient Himachal Pradesh: Lessons and Recommendations from the 2023 and 2025 Hydro-Meteorological Disasters and launched the Himachal Social Impact Assessment Management System (SIAU Portal) to promote data-driven governance and improve administrative efficiency.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.