Land sinking in Poonch village, nearly 50 structures damaged

About 50 structures, mostly residential houses, were damaged due to sinking of land in a village on the slope of a hill in Poonch district, officials said on Tuesday.

J&K minister Javed Ahmad Rana visited the affected Kalaban village in his Mendhar constituency and assured adequate relief and rehabilitation of the affected population.

Three school buildings, a mosque, a graveyard and the road leading to the village were also damaged by the land sinking which is still going on, causing panic among the local residents, the officials said.

“This is my ancestral village which is facing this land sinking for the past couple of days...the problem of land sinking was reported from different parts of Poonch, Rajouri and Kashmir in the recent past, apparently due to excessive rainfall,” Rana, who holds the portfolios of Jal Shakti, Forest, Ecology and Environment, and Tribal Affairs, told reporters during his visit to the village.

He said over 25 residential houses were damaged and some 20 others have also developed cracks rendering them unsafe.

“Half of the village’s population, some 700 souls, are affected by the land sinking. I have passed instructions, on behalf of the government, to the local administration for temporary settlement of the affected population and immediate relief in accordance with the norms. Directions have also been passed for submitting a proposal for their permanent settlement,” the minister said.

He assured the affected population of adequate compensation for their losses.

Stating that the lack of better drainage is the primary cause for such a situation, he asked the support of the civil society in identifying any shortcoming to the government during implementation of any developmental project including roads anywhere. “The drainage is a must to avoid such type of happenings,” Rana said.

Earlier, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mendhar, Imran Rashid Kataria said they are monitoring the situation and efforts are on to provide alternative accommodation to the displaced families. The land is still sinking in the village and the first priority is to shift the affected families to safer places, the official said.