Landslide damages five houses in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district

At least five residential houses were damaged due to a landslide in a remote hilly village in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district, officials said on Sunday.

The affected families were shifted to safer locations, they said.

The incident that took place in Duksar Dal village of Sangaldan in Gool Subdivision, 45 km from Ramban district headquarters, comes barely a fortnight after 19 residential houses, a mosque, and a religious school for girls developed cracks due to land sinking at Nai Basti village of Doda district.

"A total of five houses were damaged and rendered uninhabitable due to a landslide at Duksar Dal. The affected families were shifted and provided tents, ration, utensils and blankets as an immediate relief," Sub-Divisional Magistrate Gool Tanveer-ul-Majeed Wani told PTI.

He said the land started sliding on Friday, also affecting a local graveyard following which the mortal remains of a local were exhumed and later buried at another place.

"Five more houses are likely to be impacted by the continuing landslide. We are keeping a close watch on the situation and the people are requested to maintain calm," he said, adding, the affected families will be provided relief after assessing the damage.

Raqeeb Wani, the local sarpanch, said two houses belonging to Abdul Gani and Fareed Ahmad collapsed, while three others developed cracks and are unsuitable to live in.

"The people are in a panic as we have never witnessed such a thing in the past. We are thankful to the district administration for the quick response and we are hopeful that all the affected families will be suitably rehabilitated," the Sarpanch said.

He said agricultural land including fruit trees was also damaged by the landslide and needs to be provided adequate compensation as well.

"The government should also order an inspection by experts to find the reason behind the sudden sinking of the land," Raqeeb said.

Meanwhile, a three-member team from the National Institute of Disaster Management headed by Prof Surya Prakash visited Nai Basti village of Tharthri for a survey on Sunday, officials said.

Earlier, several other teams including experts from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) also inspected the affected village to ascertain the underlying factors for the development of cracks in the concrete structures.