Relief cheques given to kin of 11 flashflood victims of Una
Una, August 25
The next of kin of the 11 victims from Una district, who had drowned in a rivulet on August 11 during flashfloods in Jaijon of Hoshiarpur district adjoining Una, were today given relief cheques amounting to Rs 4 lakh each by the Punjab government.
The cheques were distributed by Punjab minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa and Hoshiarpur MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal at a gurudwara in Jaijon where former Una MLA of the Congress party Satpal Raizada was also present.
The 11 deceased, who belonged to Bhatoli and Dehlan villages of Una district, were traveling in a vehicle to Punjab to attend a marriage ceremony. The vehicle was washed away in a rivulet during flashfloods in Jaijon and the bodies were retrieved from different locations over a period spanning three days.
Raizada, who accompanied the family members to Jaijon today, said the Himachal Pradesh government had been in dialogue with the Punjab government since the incident, including launching rescue operations, locating and retrieving the bodies, conducting post-mortem examinations and releasing relief amount as per the relief manual. He said the Himachal Pradesh government has already released Rs 80,000 to the kin of each of the victims.
Terming the incident as tragic, Raizada said Una BJP MLA Satpal Singh Satti had tried to do politics over such a tragic incident. He said the MLA had led a protest march in Una a few days ago, demanding relief to the next of kin of the deceased.
He said official procedures take time and that such cheap acts to gain political mileage on deep emotional issues by the BJP leader is deplorable.
