Landslides, flooding damage 158 homes in Ramban, residents on edge

Banihal, Sep 3: Continuous rains have left dozens of Ramban district villages in fear as landslides and flooding damaged 158 houses, including 12 completely destroyed, forcing many residents to spend sleepless nights, officials said.

Reports of damage have poured in from Banihal, Khari, Arpinchla, Mahoo-Mangat, Ramsoo, Neel, Ukhral, Pogal-Paristan, Gool-Sangaldan, Rajgarh, Batote, Sanasar and Ramban. Police and local volunteers shifted several families from collapsed houses in Hara Gool and Harwari Neel in the Ramsoo subdivision to safer places.

Farooq Ahmad Naik, a social worker from the Khari Arpinchla area, said a mountain stream running through Khari market poses a serious threat to around 50 houses, three madrassas, and a mosque. “Despite repeated public demands to deepen and strengthen this stream, authorities never acted. Last night, the entire locality, along with QRT Khari volunteers, stayed awake in heavy rains, guarding the area and clearing the stream, but water still entered several houses,” he said.

Similarly, residents of Maitra in Ramban town said a local stream, along with the swollen Chenab River, has created panic in Maitra Lower and adjoining villages. Locals claimed hundreds of people in Karool, Maitra, Seri and Gam panchayats of Ramban remained awake through the night, fearing floods and landslides. A protective wall that collapsed in last year’s floods near Maitra Lower was not being rebuilt, leaving a large settlement and nearby floriculture parks at risk.

Meanwhile, police, administration, SDRF, the army, CRPF, Banihal Volunteers NGO, Himalayan QRT Ramsoo, QRT Khari, and Civil QRT Ramban remained on high alert to help affected residents.

According to official data from August 26 to September 1, Ramban district lost 158 houses to weather-related damages, including 12 completely destroyed, 48 severely damaged, and 98 partially affected. Of these, 120 Kacha houses belonged to poor and working-class families.