Srinagar: Hundreds of people, including children and the elderly, have been left homeless after the ground beneath the hilly Kalaban village in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir started sinking last week following torrential rains.

According to officials, at least 72 residential houses, three schools, two mosques, four graveyards and several animal shelters scattered on the foothills of Pir Panchal mountains have been damaged due to ongoing land subsidence. Kalaban is home to 3,808 residents as per the 2011 Census.

However, locals put the number of damaged structures in the village at 150, alleging that the delay in rerouting a rivulet, which changed course after land subsidence began on September 7, could put more residential houses situated downhill at risk.

After the land subsidence in Kheri village, allegedly due to the construction of two tunnels for the Jammu ring road project, this is the second incident where large-scale damage has been reported in a residential area in the aftermath of the torrential rains last month that wreaked havoc across the Union Territory.

'The entire village will disappear'

“The land is sinking non-stop, causing the tributary to change course and discharge its flow underground with no outlet,” said Abdul Hamid, a resident of Kalaban, “If immediate steps are not taken and machines are not brought to divert the flow of water, the entire village will disappear."

Hamid, whose house has been fully damaged in the calamity, told The Wire that he has been living on the road for more than four days along with his family under a tarpaulin sheet as the government has allegedly failed to set up shelter homes for the affected families.

“Some officials gave us rice grains and flour but where will we cook it and where will we eat? We couldn’t even save our utensils,” he said, breaking down into quiet sobs, “We can’t go back to our homes. The government should give us some land in plains”.

Chaudhary Abdul Gani, another resident, said that all the houses in Kalaban have suffered damage in varying degrees since the land started to sink earlier this month.

“They have only recorded those houses which have been extensively damaged. Our farms and roads have sunk into the ground. People are starving. We are being told that the government will pay Rs 1.2 lakh for completely damaged houses and Rs 50,000 for partially damaged ones. With such money, I can’t even build a washroom. What kind of help is this?” Gani said.

Under the State Disaster Response Force norms, Rs 4 lakh is provided in compensation to the next of kin of those who are killed in natural calamities while Rs 1.35 lakh is given to the owners of fully damaged houses in hilly areas, Rs 50,000 for partially damaged and Rs 5,000 for utensils.

Gani added, “The government should provide enough financial assistance and land so that we can rebuild our lives. If it doesn’t happen, then we should be lined up along with our families and shot dead. We don’t want a pittance.”

No survey to investigate cause

According to locals, the district administration has not yet sent any technical experts to find out the cause of land subsidence even as more than a week has passed since the ground started to crack in the hilly village.

Deputy commissioner Poonch Ashok Kumar Sharma said that a team of Geological Survey of India was going to visit the village this week to assess the cause of land subsidence. “We have also informed other technical teams to carry out assessments of the village,” he told The Wire.

Amid rising concerns, some residents of Kalaban continue to hang on to the hope of returning to their homes while passing days and nights restlessly under open skies.

Abdul Rashid Chohan, a local resident, said that more than four days have passed since he and his family were forced to vacate their single-storied house in Kalaban which was severely damaged in land subsidence.

“The government seems least bothered about us. They have been distributing flour and rice grains but it is of no use to us when we don’t have a place to live. The village has turned into a continent of debris. Everyone has become homeless. Some villagers shifted out to stay with their relatives, some like us have nowhere to go,” he said.

Mohd Maroof Manhas, a lawyer from Poonch, said that the villagers had invested their life's savings into building their homes, which have turned into ruins due to land subsidence, “The government and civil society should step forward to help the villagers some of whom couldn’t save even a needle from their homes.”

Sub-divisional magistrate of Mendhar, Imran Rashid, said that the number of damaged structures in Kalaban was likely to rise as the land subsidence hasn’t stopped.

“We have set up four camps at two Panchayat houses and some government buildings around the village. Some tents have also been erected. It is a painful tragedy but we are doing everything to minimise the villagers’ agony”.

Abdul Salaam, a resident of Kalaban, blamed the prevailing crisis on the absence of drainage system on the road from Pathana Teer to Poonch which passes through the hilly village.

“In bad weather, all the rain water washing down the roads and mountainsides seep into the ground. The entire village has been affected now and some 700 residents are homeless. The administration has provided tents but where will we erect them? Some people who took out their belongings have nowhere to keep it”.

J&K’s environment and tribal affairs minister Javed Ahmad Rana, who hails from the village, said that the village had turned unsafe for the residents. He said that the government will provide additional financial assistance from the chief minister’s relief fund.

“We are working out measures for temporary settlement of the villagers. I have asked the local administration to prepare a permanent rehabilitation plan so that the villagers can return to their normal lives without any issues,” he said.

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