19 families shifted to temporary shelters in J&K’s Doda as houses develop cracks, land sinks | India News
NEW DELHI: As many as 19 families in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district had to be evacuated and were shifted to safer places after their homes developed cracks, according to officials on Friday.
There was a fresh panic among the residents of the area after some of the buildings in the village had begun to show signs of cracking a few days ago, but on Thursday, a landslide made matters worse in which 21 buildings were damaged.
While some families have been shifted to a temporary shelter set up by the district administration, many others have returned to their ancestral homes.
A mosque and a religious school for girls at Nai Basti village in Thathri, 35 kilometres from Doda town along the Kishtwar-Batote National Highway, were also declared unsafe by the authorities.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Thathri) Athar Amin Zargar was quoted as saying, “We have shifted 19 affected families to a safer location after their houses were rendered unsafe. We are observing the situation and taking steps as per need to ensure their safety.”
He further said that the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police visited the spot and assured all help to the affected families.
However, Zargar has refused to compare the situation to that in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath — the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib — that is facing a major challenge due to land subsidence, saying that “Comparing the situation in Nai Basti with the sinking town of Joshimath will be an exaggeration.”
“We are faced with a problem of landslide and geologists from Chenab Valley power projects and National Highways Authority of India have already inspected the site,” he added.
(With inputs from agecies)
There was a fresh panic among the residents of the area after some of the buildings in the village had begun to show signs of cracking a few days ago, but on Thursday, a landslide made matters worse in which 21 buildings were damaged.
While some families have been shifted to a temporary shelter set up by the district administration, many others have returned to their ancestral homes.
A mosque and a religious school for girls at Nai Basti village in Thathri, 35 kilometres from Doda town along the Kishtwar-Batote National Highway, were also declared unsafe by the authorities.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Thathri) Athar Amin Zargar was quoted as saying, “We have shifted 19 affected families to a safer location after their houses were rendered unsafe. We are observing the situation and taking steps as per need to ensure their safety.”
He further said that the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police visited the spot and assured all help to the affected families.
However, Zargar has refused to compare the situation to that in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath — the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib — that is facing a major challenge due to land subsidence, saying that “Comparing the situation in Nai Basti with the sinking town of Joshimath will be an exaggeration.”
“We are faced with a problem of landslide and geologists from Chenab Valley power projects and National Highways Authority of India have already inspected the site,” he added.
(With inputs from agecies)
