Kullu: Soil erosion leads to cracks in house, land damaged

Abhinav Vashisht

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Kullu, December 1

Cracks have appeared in the house allotted to the Block Development Officer (BDO), Banjar. Also, a large portion of land of the Panchayat Samiti, Banjar, has been damaged due to soil erosion, allegedly because of the ongoing construction of a sub-divisional court complex. The BDO, Kehar Singh, along with his family was living in the house and they had to be evacuated and shifted to another location on Tuesday.

The BDO said that the Public Works Department (PWD) had started cutting and levelling of land for the ongoing construction of the sub-divisional court complex at Banjar. He added, “Due to soil erosion, the Panchayat Samiti land and his residential house have been badly damaged. The courtyard of the complex has caved in and the building has become unsafe to live in. An ancient spring of clean drinking water located in the complex has also been damaged.”

The BDO said that the PWD was advised to carry out the cutting work in phases and construct retaining walls side by side. However, it haphazardly carried out the cutting work of the entire land portion and chopped walnut trees on the boundary, leading to soil erosion. As a result, about 10 biswas belonging to the Panchayat Samiti and his house were damaged.

He said that a resolution was passed at an emergency meeting held yesterday that the Banjar PWD Executive Engineer would be urged to repair damaged building and land and compensate for it as soon as possible. He added that the Chief Executive Officer and the BDO had been authorised to take further action with regard to compensation. The BDO would be the authorised party on behalf of the Panchayat Samiti to seek compensation for the damage caused. He added that the PWD Executive Engineer today assured us that the damaged house would be repaired through a contractor.

Ancient spring damaged

The courtyard of the complex has caved in and the building has become unsafe to live in. An ancient spring of clean drinking water located in the complex has also been damaged. — Banjar Block Development Officer