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 Sadal 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 Sadal, 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 PTI, "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.
