On the third day of the ongoing discussion in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on the damage caused by disastrous rains in the state, the ruling party and the Opposition indulged in one-upmanship drifting from the issue at hand.

Taking part in the deliberations, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said the state witnessed the worst crisis of the century, yet the Centre seems to be indifferent. “The team sent by the Centre to assess the damage caused by rains have returned, but relief is yet to come,” he lamented.

Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh said the disaster that struck the state has left many lessons to learn. “Whatever shortcomings were exposed to in road construction during the disaster will not be repeated in the future,” he said, adding the roads that continue to be blocked due to rain-related catastrophes will be opened for heavy vehicles by the end of this month.

Participating in the discussion under Rule 102, BJP MLA Satpal Singh Satti said as questions have been raised by a member of the House regarding stone crushers owned by MLAs, one must not ignore the fact that setting up a crusher factory and hotel is the right of every MLA. “If an MLA is running all this, he is in a way providing employment to the people. Also, in times of crisis, the MLAs also come forward to donate their one-month salary,” he added.

Satti sought to know from the state chief minister about the cabinet expansion to appoint the remaining three ministers. He suggested the immediate conduct of a survey of the old trees in Shimla and get them felled as they constantly pose a danger to life and property.

He said people of the state have started complaining that the state government is grumbling over coffers. Although he supports the demand for a special relief package, the Congress government should also fulfill the guarantees given by them in the assembly elections.

Bhawani Singh Pathania Congress MLA said that if the disaster in Himachal is not declared a national disaster, it will cause huge loss to the state.

With the declaration of national disaster, then 90 percent of the money that will be received to bring Himachal back on track will be borne by the central government and 10 percent by the state government.

Other members of the House who took part in the discussion included Reena Kashyap, K L Thakur, RS Bali, Deep Raj , Lokinder Kumar, Ashish Sharma, and Yadvinder Goma.