Landslip hits Baijnath village, two buildings declared unsafe

Our Correspondent

Palampur, August 10

Several houses were damaged after a landslide hit Deol village in the Baijnath subdivision, 30 km from here, last night. Though no loss of life was reported, the administration declared two houses unsafe and shifted the occupants to safer places.

Many families have been spending sleepless nights as a part of a forest adjoining the village is sinking and more landslides are feared. During a visit to Deol village, villagers told The Tribune that the construction of a road to Kanarthu by the Public Works Department was the main reason behind the landslides and subsidence.

The PWD had constructed the road passing through the centre of the village, but failed to construct retaining walls, which led to massive landslides in the village. The affected villagers had approached the PWD many times demanding fortification of the affected area. Before the onset of monsoons, they had met the Assistant Engineers and Junior Engineers of the department, but in vain.

The affected families have been shifted to a school. Houses of Guddi Devi and Kanchan have suffered maximum damage after which they are shifted in the school. Recalling the incident, they said after the hill started sinking at around 1 am, flood water started entering in their houses. When a big tree fell on both the houses, the families moved out immediately and raised the alarm. They said both houses had developed big cracks and water had entered the rooms. With most goods damaged, it was risky proposition for them to enter the houses to salvage whatever goods had survived the flood. The two said they had constructed the houses recently.

Baijnath SDM DC Thakur visited the landslide-hit village and assured the affected families that the government would provide them assistance. He said the priority of the administration was to shift the affected families to safer places to avoid any mishap.

BDC member Chaman Kapoor said the PWD should immediately construct the retaining walls along the road to protect the houses. He said if timely action was not taken, the subsidence could expand to the left side of the forest. He alleged that unscientific cutting had been done by the PWD during the construction of the road.