DEHRADUN: A team of geologists surveying villages in Dharchula of Pithoragarh district said a village might be sliding down the slope as a result of the weakening land surface on which it stands making it unfit for human habitation. They also added that at least 35 families out of a total of 150 living in the village need to be shifted immediately given the anticipated threat to lives.
Pradeep Kumar, a geologist from the state mining department, who is leading the survey team, said, “We have found out that the sliding is happening due to ongoing work on a road. It all started in 1974 due to landslides as it is located in a landslide zone. It stopped but again emerged in 2013.” “The recent rains in June and October have kind of disturbed the underground structures.
This has created motions under along with cracks in the slope. There have been landslides recently without any rains, which is risky.” The geologist said the water percolated underground and is gradually going downwards making the upper layers of the soil more unstable.
Around 200 villages of Dharchula and Munsyari sub-divisions of the district might be vulnerable as those are located on accumulated landslides over centuries. The gram pradhan of the village, Savita Devi, had written to the administration complaining about the sliding slope of some houses in the village following which a team of geologists was sent by the district administration to the village for a survey.
“I wrote to the administration citing the sliding slope of the village. A team has been surveying the village for some time. Life of many hangs in balance here,” she said. Dar village, 132 kilometres from the district headquarters, is in Dharchula tehsil of Pithoragarh district of the hill state. The tehsil shares borders with Nepal.