Twenty Families Evacuated as Rains Damage Several Houses in Jammu Kashmir Village

SRINAGAR: At least 20 families, comprising more than 90 people, were shifted to safety on late Friday after land subsidence triggered cracks in several houses at Panjnara village of Kotranka sub-division in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said as per multiple media reports.

The affected stretch, spread over nearly two square kilometres on a hilltop, witnessed severe soil sinking following days of relentless rainfall. Alarmed by the widening cracks, authorities moved the families into government-provided shelters.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Kotranka, Dil Mir, as per Business Standard report, said the evacuation was carried out swiftly with the help of SDRF and police teams. “The houses had become unsafe and posed a direct threat to the occupants. All affected families, along with their belongings, were relocated to safer accommodation,” he stated. A dedicated SDRF unit has now been deployed in the village to monitor the situation, while locals have been advised to remain vigilant and be ready to move out if structural damage worsens.

Continuous heavy rains have battered Rajouri, particularly Kotranka, over the past five days, triggering fears of further soil erosion and landslides.