DamhalHanjipora, Feb 23: A landslide damaged two houses and five shops in the hamlet of Shalmach in Yarikha village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Thursday night.
According to locals, a landslide that blocked the NandimargDamhalHanjipora road damaged a house and three shops across the road, causing damage to these structures.
Fazil Hussain Gorsi, Sarpanch of the area, a water supply pipeline leaked, causing a landslide and mudslide at the spot.
“We brought this to the notice of the concerned department a couple of times but to no avail,” he said.
When Rising Kashmir contacted Tehsildar DamhalHanjipora (DH Pora) Rouf Ahmad, he informed that a landslide hit some residential houses and shops in Yarikha village of DH Pora tehsil on Thursday night.
“The avalanche completely destroyed a single-story house and three semi-Pucca stores belonging to Abdul Majeed Hajam, while a double-story house and two shops were partially destroyed,” said Tehsildar DamhalHanjipora.
According to an official, the administration is in contact with the people there, and ground staff has access to the issue, which will be investigated further
“Fortunately, there was no loss of life and the victims received rapid help, including blankets, utensils, and other necessities,” the officials said.
The official said that the road that was closed after the landslide will be worked on as there is moisture present in it.
“Removing it immediately may result in additional loss,” an official warned.
Locals also alleged that the road doesn’t have a drainage system and no retaining wall in landslide-prone areas.
“This is a terrain area, the road is carved out from earth cutting. There should have been a drainage system in place or even a retaining wall to avoid such eventuality,” a local said.
The locals said that the water supply pipeline that runs through the area had a leakage which hadn’t even been repaired from the past some weeks.
Locals also requested the Jal Shakti department to restore the drinking water facility as soon as possible.
Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti D P Pora, Malik Mudasir told Rising Kashmir that there was no leakage in the pipeline.
“The report about leakage in the pipeline from the last couple of months is baseless, however, due to slow expansion of landslide the joints of the pipeline had developed a leakage which we were working on,” he said.
He said, the water supply to the area will be restored only after the road and the debris will be removed.
Meanwhile, State Secretary JKNC SakinaItoo expressed sorrow over the incident in which many structures including houses and shops got completely damaged. She demanded immediate rehabilitation of the affected families and appropriate compensation.
