KASURI, Dec 27:
Having lived their worst nightmare after their entire village was buried under massive landslide that was triggered by the heavy rainfall in September, the residents of Saddal village of Udhampur district are now faced with another displacement.
Now, with the cold wave at its peak, they have been served with a notice by the district administration to vacate Kasuri village, where they were living for the last three months, as it was declared “unsafe” by the Geological Survey of India.
More than 40 people were buried alive under the landslide. Around 48 families comprising over 225 people had taken shelter in the village after their hamlet got completely submerged in the landslide.
“They (administration) failed to apply balm to our wounds, but now they are rubbing salt on them,” said Kunj Lal, village head of Saddal, who along with his family has been living in the Kasuri village.
He said that they have received a notice from the administration asking them to vacate the village as it has been declared unsafe by the GSI.
“We have been living in this village for three months now, we lost everything when the landslide damaged our village. We had restarted our lives, building everything from the scratch. Now all of a sudden the administration wants us to vacate this place as well,” Lal said.
Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Yasha Mudgul, told, “The Geological Survey of India has declared the village as unsafe as the area is unstable and a heavy rainfall can trigger landslides.”
She said that the administration has made arrangements for the villagers in Udhampur but they were reluctant to shift because of their livestock.
“We have made arrangements for their livestock also at cattle sheds, but they are still adamant,” she said.
Ramesh Kumar, the sarpanch of Kasuri village, said the residence of Sadal village, who were the victims of fate, were unnecessarily being forced to face another hardship.
“It’s been three months that these people have been living here. Was the administration sleeping for all these three months and now when these people have started their lives afresh they are again being uprooted,” Kumar said.
He said that even though the administration has promised to provide better accommodation to these people for the winter in Udhampur, these people were worried about their livestock.
“The administration wants to shift them to Udhampur for three months of winter. What after that, where will they go after winter? They are also worried about their livestock which is their main source of livelihood,” Kumar said. (PTI)
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