Ramban, Aug 24: Three families comprising 10 members were evacuated as a precautionary measure after land subsidence and cracks in residential houses were reported in a village in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Monday.
The land subsidence at Kulthi Chakka Kundi in Tehsil Rajgarh, along the banks of the Chenab River, triggered panic among the local villagers, particularly in the wake of recent heavy rains that have affected several areas of the district, they said.
Administrative, revenue and rescue teams rushed to the affected area and shifted the affected families to safer locations.
Tehsildar Rajgarh Major Singh said one non-residential structure belonging to Bhagat Ram was washed away, while cracks had developed in the residential houses of Chaat Ram, Chaman Lal and Bhushan Lal due to land subsidence over the past couple of days.
Singh said he visited the affected area along with an State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team and shifted the affected families. They were provided tents for temporary accommodation.
The Naib Tehsildar and other officials are stationed in the village and are closely monitoring the situation, he said.
Locals, however, reported cracks and damage to several other houses, including those belonging to Dev Raj, Hari Ram, Santosh Singh, Fallal Singh and Shashram.
BJP Ramban district president Neelam Kumar Lange also visited the affected area and demanded compensation and rehabilitation for the affected families.
He also expressed concern over the absence of any minister or MLA from the National Conference-led government at the site, alleging that no minister or MLA had visited the affected area to assess the situation.
Local residents apprehended that recent water releases from the Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project following heavy rains may have contributed to ground instability.
However, officials said the exact cause of the land subsidence and cracks is yet to be established.
One person, along with a sand-extraction boat, who was swept away by strong currents in the Chenab River near Pul Doda in Doda district Monday morning was also rescued by the SDRF.
The rescued person, a non-local worker employed as an operator of the sand-extraction machine, was engaged by a private company that had been awarded the contract for sand extraction in the area, officials said.
They said efforts are currently underway to retrieve the machinery from the river.
