Ramban land Sinking likely due to water seepage, cutting of steep slopes: Experts

Several geologists and environmental experts Wednesday said that sinking of land’ in Dalwa village of Rambanwass likely due to water seepage, extensive cutting of steep slopes and other reasons. To overcome these disasters, J&K should have robust urban land use plans, they said.
On Sunday, at least 16 houses were damaged and road connectivity between Gool and Ramban snapped following the “sinking of land” at DuksarDalwa village of Ramban district in Jammu region.
Following the incident, electricity supply in Gool was snapped in dozens of panchayats due to damage to the 33-KV power transmission line passing through the village. Officials say the affected families were relocated to safer locations.
To ascertain possible reasons of land subsidence in the region, Rising Kashmir on Wednesday spoke to various experts to know their views and how these disasters can be overcome.
Noted Geologist and Researcher, Prof. S.K. Pandita from Department of Geology, University of Jammu said that mostly in higher reaches of J&K, water seepage is the reason behind the land subsidence and it is common in sloppy areas.
“The rain water must be getting accumulated somewhere and when that water gets accumulated beyond the land’s capacity, it increases Hydrostatic pressure, after that land subsidence can take place,” he said.
“Land subsidence refers to the vertical sinking of land and consists of the Earth’s surface moving downwards vertically and involves little or no movement horizontally. The reason behind subsidence can be both natural causes and human actions,” Prof. Pandita said.
‘Locals should be trained so that they are prepared for such disaster situations. People should be given the knowledge of avoiding any work which can be fatal in future, he said.
Dr. Irfan Rashid, Senior Assistant Professor at Department of Geoinformatics, University of Kashmir said when roads and highways are constructed on steep slopes; population and infrastructure are prone to such disasters.
“The soil loses its cohesive strength due to cutting of steep slopes increasing the probability of landslides and associated subsidence. Pertinent to mention that these areas are also seismically active that could trigger mass wasting,” he said.
Dr. Irfan said mostly such cases have been reported in Chenab belt due to extensive cutting of steep slopes and daming of waters that trigger landslides and land subsidence, washing away roads at various places.
“To overcome these disasters, we should have robust urban land use plans. I don’t think that there is any scientifically informed land use plan or land suitability assessment over these prone landscapes. Such assessments would inform the policy makers to plan disaster resilient infrastructure,” he said.
Dr. Irfan said that since such plans are not visible on ground, mass wasting hazards like land subsidence and mass wasting would be frequent.
Former Head of Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Prof. G.M. Bhat also stated that there can be multiple reasons behind the Ramban land sinking.
“Land subsidence is a sudden sinking of land. Its primary causes are the removal of underground water, compaction, and drainage of organic soils, underground mining, and thawing permafrost. The primary cause of subsurface soil loss after heavy rains,” he said.
Prof. Bhat said the occurrence of land subsidence is seldom as obvious as it is in the case of catastrophic sinkholes or mine collapses. Where groundwater depletion is involved, subsidence is typically gradual and widespread, he said.
On the ground level, there was panic among the local population in Dalwah due to sudden land sinking causing the collapse of over 10 houses. They said land suddenly started sinking at Dalwah around 5 am on Friday due to which residential houses were completely razed to the ground.
Rizwan Malik, a local of DalwahDuksar village told Rising Kashmir that there is panic in the area. We do not know what has happened. Last week suddenly some portions of the village developed cracks, he said.
“People immediately started evacuation work. They first tried to shift property, cattle and valuables from the affected houses. Over 15-17 structures have been damaged due to ‘sinking of land”,” he said.
Malik says many families are homeless. More houses will be damaged as cracks have intensified from Sunday onward, he said.
Another local Riyaz Ahmad said they are very scared to stay here. We cannot even sit inside our home because the entire area has developed cracks. We seek an appropriate place to stay and provide protection to the children, he said.
“When the information about the land sinking in Dalwah area reached the administration, a team of the government officials reached the spot. They have taken stock of the entire situation and have started the process of evacuating people to a safer place,” he said.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mussarat Islam also visited the village and interacted with the affected families, assuring them of every possible help from the administration in their rehabilitation.
He directed the Gool Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Tanveer-ul-MajeedWani, to process relief cases of damaged houses on war-footing under SDRF to provide assistance to victims in the shortest possible time.
Reacting to sudden land sinking at Ramban village, Dr. Gousia Amin (PhD Scholar) from University of Kashmir said there can be both natural or human induced reasons behind this disaster.
” Human interventions in the environment can also increase vulnerability to natural hazards. Examples include changes in land cover that increase risks of landslides or flooding, she said.
Dr. Gousia said landslides can be initiated in slopes already on the verge of movement by rainfall, snowmelt, changes in water level, stream erosion, changes in groundwater, earthquakes, volcanic activity, disturbance by human activities, or any combination of these factors.
On Tuesday, two-member team of experts from Geological Survey of India (GSI) visited DuksarDalwa village in Sangaldan area of Gool tehsil in to ascertain the reasons behind landsliding, which has so far damaged 16 houses, 500-metre stretch of the road between Ramban and Gool, and a 33KV power transmission line.
Ajaz Rasool, a noted Hydraulic Engineer says that that incident in Ramban village could have been caused due to the geological fault zone which has moved a bit, causing land sinking or subsidence. “There can be multiple reasons behind it. Both natural and manmade,” he said.
Earlier this month, 22 houses were emptied and 300 people shifted from Doda’sNaiBasti after cracks spread across several structures, leading to the collapse of at least three.
On February 18, a three-member team from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) visited NaiBasti village in Doda district and assessed the subsidence of land.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has also formed a panel to conduct a study and suggest remedial measures for preventing environmental damage in Doda.