Authorities unmoved, people aghast
HAJIN: Massive soil erosion affects scores of family residing near the river bank of Hajin area in north Kashmir, which has turned people aghast. The apathy of the authorities has allegedly put population of nearly 50,000 under danger.
The resident alleged that the authorities are not interested towards their plight which they are facing due to this soil erosion. They said that it is an irony that more than 30 years have passed since the soil erosion of the river bank is occurring. The most prone locations for the soil erosion are Banginyaar, Gulshanabad.
They said that they are living in constant fears, especially during the rainy days or winters. “Our houses are damaged. We are living in fear as the many household had miraculous escape in past. This erosion of soil on the bank of river gave us sleepless nights”, said group of suffering residents.
They alleged that despite many pleas to the concern authorities, they failed to address the issue for once and all, adding that no doubt in past the authorities’ spend huge sums on the construction of Bund, but all in vain.
“The material use in the construction of Bund is substandard. This is the reason the Bund has failed every time to serve as protection to the households residing near the bank”, Muzaffar Parray, a resident said.
The resident said that recently in the last week of January, when it was heavily snowing, the residents had had a miraculous escape due to sudden soil erosion.
They also said that the sand digging creates more depth in the Jehlum tributary, which increases the risk factor of soil erosion. Noor Mohammad a shopkeeper said, “The sand diggers are posing more threat by creating depth in the river tributary.”
He adds, the concern authorities should not allow them to do at the cost of human lives. “The river bank has cracked, damaged. It depicts a sign of danger when you walk along its side”, said a passer byer, Sajad Ahmad.
The residents said that despite the issue has been highlighted by media a number of times, the Government remains unmoved.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Sajad Husain Ganaie, said that they are planning to fix the issue by March. “We have already directed sand diggers to extract sand 200 meters away from the Bank”, he said. He adds, if any violation found would be strictly dealt under law.
