Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 6: Expressing profound grief over the large scale devastation caused by landslides in various villages of Ramnagar constituency, NPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh, lambasted the Government for its abject failure in coming to the rescue of the affected people.
He said that massive landslides had caused huge loss of property, residential houses, livestock, agricultural fields and standing crops in several villages of Tehsil Basantgarh and Tehsil Majalta with the concerned authorities acting as mute spectators with no action taken for relief or rehabilitation of the poor inhabitants of the affected area.
While sitting at protest dharna here today Singh said that dozens of houses, both Pacca and Kacha, had been razed to ground in the villages of Rasli Gaderan, Garh-Samnabhanj, Sundla, Babey, Jansal, Chigla Balota etc besides loss of livestock, cattle and damage to other property, and lands of poor farmers.
Pointing towards the massive destruction of houses in Gandh Top area of Rasli Gaderan, Singh said that Government apathy had been largely responsible for the gruesome tragedy that could have been easily averted by timely intervention of government functionaries who failed to act despite repeated public clamours. He said that the water reservoir and the main gravity line at Gandh Top were both damaged with the overflowing water and leaking pipes having posed grave danger which was however overlooked by PHE Department officials despite repeated complaints.
The R&B Department too had failed to ensure construction of proper crossing and drainage and other protection works on the Gandh Top road that led to water logging and sliding of the area resulting in large scale devastation in the area. He said that even the soil conservation and Flood Control Department had failed to provide any assistance to the people of the area which is highly vulnerable to sliding in view of its sloppy terrain.
He regretted that despite Rasil Gaderan having been declared as a Model village under ST scheme and its foundation stone also having been laid in 2015 with Rs 5 crore allocation, it was most unfortunate that not a single penny had been spent in the said village. He regretted that the affected people in Lah, Garh, Urkhal Pattian, Jamsal, Sundla, Chigla Balota and Babey were rendered houseless around a week back with all their belongings and household items also having been buried under debris, the Government had failed to provide any kind of assistance till date.
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