Heavy rains wreak havoc in Mendhar’s Sanjiote

Rajouri, Jul 18: Heavy rainfall lashed the Mendhar sub division areas of Poonch district last night, causing widespread damage to residential houses and infrastructure. The locality of Maidaan Mohalla in Sanjiote village, situated on the boundary of Rajouri and Poonch districts, was severely affected, with a huge volume of mudslide and water entering the area.

According to locals, the most affected area was Panchayat Sanjyot’s Ward No. 4, where at least six residential houses and a madrasa suffered damage. The ongoing construction of National Highway 144A through the area is believed to have contributed to land subsidence, exacerbating the damage, as per locals.

They further alleged that the damage could have been prevented if proper water drainage system would have been constructed by the authorities.

The incident has rendered many families homeless, with their houses either partially or completely collapsing.

In Ward No. 4, Malla Madian, the structures that have suffered damage include the houses of Hafiz Tariq Madni, Haji Mukhtar Khan, and ASI Azam Khan, suffered significant damage. Victim Hafiz Tariq Madni while narrating the plight said that his family is homeless and left with no other option than to live under open sky. The affected residents are demanding immediate assistance and relief measures from the authorities accusing grave negligence of highway construction execution agencies as well as civil administration who failed to look after the problem and take necessary preventive measures timely. The village habitation reportedly remain in a situation of chaos for the entire last night as the people struggled hard to rescue the members of family living in The structures that collapsed amid rainfall.The officials of civil administration on the other hand stated that their field teams visited the area and accessed the losses wild the necessary compensation for the victim families will be accorded as per the law of land.