10 houses sealed amid landslide threat in J&K's Kishtwar

JAMMU: The district administration of J&K’s Kishtwar sealed 10 houses and shifted 22 families from Tiyath-Patharnaki areas to safer places on Friday as a precautionary measure amid the threat of landslides, even as traffic movement was suspended on Kishtwar-Paddar road for the third day on Saturday.

Kishtwar deputy commissioner Rajesh Kumar Shavan inspected the landslide-prone area at Patharnaki along Kishtwar-Paddar road to assess the ground situation and evaluate evacuation measures.

“We have taken preventive measures for the safety of locals due to the continuous sinking and threat of a landslide. The evacuated families have been provided tents and rations,” Nagsini tehsildar (revenue official) Mohd Rafi Naik said, adding that a portion of 200x500m of Tiyath hillock was affected, while continuous shooting stones were hampering road clearance operations.

Naik and DySP (HQ) Ishaan Gupta were camping in the area to monitor the situation. “The normal traffic remained affected while locals have been asked to adopt the alternative route, that is, trekking to nearby villages,” Naik said.

BJP legislator Sunil Sharma, who represents the area, said the place had become prone to frequent landslides over the past one-and-a-half years. “Agencies concerned have been managing the slide zone temporarily for this period to avoid traffic disruption, but the issue needs a permanent solution as road closure causes immense hardships for residents of Paddar and Pangi belts in moving in and out of the region,” he said.

Sharma said he had already raised the issue with the deputy commissioner. “We met with GREF officials yesterday,” he added.