STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: More than 500 people have been relocated to safer places after over 58 houses were completely damaged due to land sinking in a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, officials said on Saturday.
An official said the assessment of damages due to the land subsidence in Pernote village over the past three days has also started on war-footing to facilitate speedy release of compensation to affected families under the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) norms.
The natural calamity hit the village on Thursday evening, also damaging four transmission towers, a power receiving station and a section of the road connecting the Gool sub-division with Ramban district headquarters.
The Ramban district administration under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner Baseer-Ul-Haq Chaudhary, who is also Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), has relocated all the affected families, the official said.
A total of 100 households were affected as 58 houses got completely damaged due to the land subsidence, the official said, adding that so far 500 people have been evacuated and provided shelter at safer places.
The district administration carried out the evacuation amid the inclement weather. Most of the affected families have been relocated to community hall Maitra, with relief and support services operating from Pernote Panchayat, he said.
The deputy commissioner, who is overseeing the restoration efforts in the village, ensured the deployment of teams from Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited and Sub-Trans sub Division to resume the disrupted power supply.
Additionally, a 24×7 control room, supervised by Ramban Block Development Officer Yasir Wani, has been established to aid the affected individuals, alongside the mobilisation of national and state disaster response forces, police, civil volunteers, and other organisations for rescue operations, the official said.
Furthermore, a health camp, staffed with dedicated medical personnel, has been set up to address the healthcare needs of the displaced, he added.
With sanitation and hygiene being paramount, the district administration is rigorously maintaining cleanliness standards at the health camps and relocation sites. Moreover, a community kitchen has been started to provide timely and hygienic meals to those affected.
The revenue, horticulture, sheep husbandry, animal husbandry, agriculture, rural development, roads and buildings and other departments concerned have been tasked to assess the damages to facilitate speedy release of compensation to the victims under SDRF norms, the official said.
Meanwhile, The National Conference (NC) on Saturday urged the Centre to send a team of its top experts to assess the recent land sinking in Ramban district and take measures to prevent recurrence of such disasters.
It also demanded that the Jammu and Kashmir administration stepped up its rescue and rehabilitation work for the families affected by the land subsidence in Pernote village, located 5 km away from the Ramban district headquarters, over the past two days.
“The response of the Jammu and Kashmir administration to the situation appears inadequate… The government should step up its efforts in the rescue and rehabilitation work, ensuring the safety and well-being of all affected individuals and families,” the NC said in a statement here.
The party highlighted the pressing need to form a team of officers for a comprehensive assessment of the damages and compensation for the affected families to start rebuilding their homes and businesses.
The NC asked the Centre to send a team of its top experts to assess the situation and also take measures so that such incidents do not recur.
The party expressed its sympathy with the affected families and said there is immediate need for resources and assistance to facilitate rebuilding of the lives of those impacted by this tragedy.
Houses started developing cracks and the road connectivity between Gool and Ramban snapped Thursday evening following the sudden ‘sinking of land’ in Pernote village, prompting several families to move to safer places.