Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mandi and actress Kangana Ranaut, along with Himachal Pradesh Leader of Opposition (LoP) and former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, visited the cloudburst-affected areas of Mandi district on Sunday and interacted with local residents.

Speaking to ANI, Kangana Ranaut said, 'The central government provided immediate relief operations by sending in the forces. At the local level, we provided relief material to the affected families... Even though the Prime Minister is on a foreign visit, but he is informed of what is happening here, and the central government has swung into action. As an MP, it is my job to bring in funds and convey the ground reality to the government...'

Kangana also visited the Thunag subdivision in Mandi district on Sunday amid widespread destruction and loss of lives caused by cloudbursts and flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall across Himachal Pradesh.

Kangana shared the on-field report of the 'relief efforts' by the Indian government and the administration in the flash flood-affected areas, especially the Thunag subdivision.'Following the cloudburst, there is a flood-like situation here in Mandi. Road connectivity is severely affected, particularly in the Thunag area and the nearby areas. Despite this, our government and administration are closely monitoring the situation, and relief efforts are underway. Road connectivity is being restored. Our teams are in every affected area. We have made committees in the affected areas, which have their chairpersons,' said Ranaut.

According to officials, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is personally overseeing the relief operations and has assured full support from the state government to affected families.

A spokesperson of the State Government said that the Mandi administration had distributed 1,317 food kits having 5 kg flour, 5 kg rice, one litre edible oil, one kg salt, one kg sugar, two kg pulses, 100 gm Haldi, 100 gm Mirch powder and 100 gram tea each among the affected families in the disaster hit areas.

He stated that 197 food kits were made available in Thunag, 69 in Janjehli, 1,000 in Bagsaid, 40 in Dharampur, and 11 in the Chauntra area of Mandi district. He said that 160 food kits had been sent for the Janjehli area and 176 kits for the Thunag area of the Seraj assembly constituency of Mandi district today for further distribution among the disaster-affected families. He stated that 665 kits are still in stock and will be distributed as needed.

On Saturday, a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) conducted a field visit to a village in Panchayat Jarode to extend emergency assistance to residents in disaster-affected areas.

During the visit, the SDRF team surveyed the impacted areas and identified vulnerable individuals in urgent need of aid. Relief materials, including basic need kits and medical kits, were distributed to the affected families as part of the immediate response effort.

The team also assessed the medical conditions of several villagers and provided essential medicines on-site to those requiring immediate care.

As part of the outreach, SDRF personnel interacted with local residents to gather information about unmet needs and additional support requirements.

These findings have been shared with the District Administration to ensure timely and continued relief measures.

Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has directed the Mandi district administration to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing in the disaster-affected areas of the district, ensuring that relief reaches all those in need.

The most affected areas are the Thunag subdivision, Karsog Gohar subdivision and Dharampur subdivision, DC Mandi, Apoorv Devgan. (ANI)