Cracks surface in U’khand village, 80 shifted to safer areas

PITHORAGARH : Pithoragarh district administration in Uttarakhand on Friday shifted about 80 people living in over half a dozen houses in Sainrathi village after cracks surfaced on the ground which also led to cracks in the houses, officials said.

“We have sent a revenue officials’ team to the village for the security of the villagers. We are also sending a team of geologists to study the phenomenon,” said Phincha Ram Chauhan, additional district magistrate, Pithoragarh.

According to locals, cracks of 20 to 50 metre long suddenly surfaced on the ground creating panic among the villagers.

“Some of the houses have become dangerous to live in due to big cracks. Keeping this in mind, we have shifted about 80 villagers to a safer area,” said Abhay Pratap Singh, sub-divisional magistrate, Munsiyari.

Villagers said the land of their village has started shifting slowly towards a river flowing nearby. “We have not witnessed such a phenomenon in our lives till date.” said Bhagat Singh Bachami from Sainrathi village.

District geological officer Pradeep Kumar said the cracks have surfaced due to sliding of the village land towards the nearby river. “I have seen the photographs and video of the cracks; the cracks are due to gradual sliding of land towards a river flowing near the village,” he said.

The cracks scared the villagers as on last Sunday five people were killed in a landslide triggered by a cloudburst.

Meanwhile, the national highway between Tanakpur and Pithoragarh opened after 12 days.

The closure of the road link had resulted in losses to traders of Champawat and Pithoragarh areas as the supply of goods was halted.

“The highway could not be opened due to continuous landslides and boulder fall at Swala village near Champawat,” said LD Mathela, executive engineer of National Highway Authority of India posted in Pithoragarh.

According to Mathela, the engineers allowed special prayers to be held at the stretch after public pressure.

“The landslides and boulder fall were unprecedented at this stretch. Following public pressure, special prayers were also held at the site,” he said

According to traders’ organisations, over 10,000 traders were affected by the closure of the road in the area. “I used to sell over 5,000 bags of cement daily, but due to closure of the road, my business was severely affected,” said a trader.