The eight-day Monsoon Session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly began on Monday with the House paying homage to 441 people who died due to rain-related incidents in the state and also mourned the death of former MLA Khub Ram.

Making the obituary reference, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said Khub Ram, former MLA from the Anni constituency, was elected to the Assembly in 1982, 1990 and 2012.  Khub Ram died on July 19.  He also paid homage to the 441 people who have died since the onset of monsoon season on June 24. 

Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania prayed for those who died in the rain-related incidents.  Expressing grief at the deaths of the 441 people, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jai Ram Thakur said the affected families are yet to recover from the shock, and they are still waiting to get the bodies of their loved ones. 

The session started on a stormy note with the opposition BJP staging a walkout after the Speaker rejected their adjournment motion, seeking an immediate discussion on the monsoon calamity in the state.

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.  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.