Land subsidence crumbles hopes, dreams in Jammu

Mohammad Javaid sits desolate under the fragile cover of a tent, unable to comprehend how he ended up in this situation. A little over a week ago, he was living with his family of six in his dream home.

- 

But in a cruel turn of fate, his two-storied house in Khari village in Jammu and Kashmir, built only a year and a half ago, developed cracks due to land subsidence. The house built from savings, made painstakingly through years of hard labour, has now collapsed, putting his family in a precarious place.

“For the past six to seven days, the land in our village has been sinking. It started with small cracks in our houses after the rains stopped around September 3, but now there are four to five-foot deep cracks in the earth,” Javaid tells PTI.

Eyes brimming with tears, he adds, “I spent lakhs of rupees building this house with every penny I saved. My house has gone. Now everything is completely destroyed. We sleep in our farm land under tarpaulins, covering our goods and family when the rains come.”

Javaid says their survival solely depends on the support of the government and his fellow villagers. “The administration has given us tents, but it’s no substitute for a home. Nearly 20 to 25 houses here are completely damaged.”