Home turns graveyard for family

Laden/Jammu, March 31: Lala Hajam and his family left their house for a ‘much safer’ place as they feared their kuccha house in this village in central Kashmir Budgam district might collapse due to heavy rains but they ran out of luck as death followed them.
Hajam and his four family members, who took refuge in the house of their neighbour on Sunday night, were among the 16 persons who were buried alive as the two-storey house was gulped by the caving in of earth.
Hajam had shifted to the house of his neighbour Ghulam Nabi Hajam considering the latter’s house comparatively safer from his own in the snow-bound village perched atop a hillock, three kilometres from the last motorable road.
However, fate had something else in store for the two families as the house was swallowed by the earth, leaving no trace of the two-storeyed building.
It was around midnight that the residents were awakened by a sudden thud and shaking of earth. Fear stricken, they came out of their beds and saw cracks had developed in some houses. However, they got the shock of their life when they found Ghulam’s house had vanished from face of earth.
“We were shocked to see that the house was nowhere. It had been buried inside the earth. It was as if there was no building at that spot ever,” Ghulam Qadir Dar, a local, said.
He said the locals made immediate arrangements for trying to rescue the persons buried inside, despite rains and snowfall.
“We tried our best but there was no way we could do anything,” he said, adding “we were joined by residents of adjoining villages and security forces and civil administration as the word spread”.
Dar said though the area has experienced sinking at some places in the past, “we have never seen such a thing before”.
Hundreds of people from the nearby villages gathered at the spot waiting for some miracle to happen so that people under the debris are brought out alive. But chances of any survivors were dashed when the rescuers pulled out 15 bodies over the last two days.
“The search for one more – a six-year-old boy is on,” Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Chrar-e-Shareef, Mohammad Ashraf Tak said.
The families now have only one survivor – son of Ghulam who was not in the village on the fateful night – who is in a state of shock and admitted at a hospital in Srinagar.
He said three more houses in the small village have been damaged while few others have developed cracks.
The stunned residents today bid a tearful adieu to 15 of the deceased, while waiting for the fate of the boy trapped under the debris.
Meanwhile, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Relief and Rehabilitations, Syed Basharat Bukhari presented a detailed status report on the incident of land erosion in village Laden in Legislative Assembly in winter capital today.
He said due to incessant rains since last many days, various areas of district Budgam witnessed isolated incidents of land erosion and landslides and in the wake of these landslides district Administration took immediate steps to evacuate people from vulnerable areas to safer places so as to avoid any loss of life.
“221 families were evacuated from various areas and lodged in the tents provided by the district administration and also in the Government buildings situated in safer places in the respective areas,” Bukhari said adding 64 families preferred to stay with their relatives and did not avail the facility of staying in tents or government buildings.
He said in village Laden 16 families had already been evacuated due the threat of landslides / land erosion out of which 13 families are putting up in tents and 3 families are staying with their relatives.
“On March 28, Deputy Commissioner Budgam and SDM Chadoora were personally monitoring process of evacuation of people, whose houses were vulnerable and also assessing the vulnerability of the area for any further damage or need for evacuation,” he said.
Bukhari said the spot where the ill fated incident took place leading to death of 16 persons was also visited by the Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, along with the locals of the area.
“The locals had informed the Deputy Commissioner that the said spot was not vulnerable to any land erosion / landside. The inmates of the houses located on the spot continued to stay in their respective houses as there was no apprehension of any land erosion / landslide”.
He said reportedly five family members of Mohammad Shaban Hajam in late hours of March 29 shifted into the house of Ghulam Nabi Hajam taking it as a safe place but unfortunately during the intervening night of 29th and 30th March 2015, the house collapsed and as a result of the collapse 16 persons died.
The deceased belonged to families of Ghulam Nabi Hajam and Mohammad Shaban who also died in the incident. The other family members include Zaina w/o Ghulam Nabi Hajam, sons Riyaz Ahmad, Bilal Ahmad, Mohammad Iqbal and daughters Shahida, Naseema, Bitta, Fareeda and Shageena. The body of Faisal S/o Ghulam Nabi Hajam is yet to be recovered. The other family members of deceased Mohammad Shaban include wife Ruksana, sister Naseema, Daughter Sameena and 2 month old girl child.
“The process of retrieval of the bodies from the debris was initiated in the morning hours yesterday and Deputy Commissioner Budgam has been monitoring the rescue operation personally along with civil administration, police and forces,” the minister said.
He said Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Deputy Commissioner Budgam and SSP Budgam are on the spot and are coordinating the rescue operation.
“Till now 15 dead bodies have been recovered and another body is yet to be retrieved and efforts are on to retrieve the dead body out of the debris,” added Bukhari.

Source: Rising Kashmir