No takers for relocating survivors

Tangdhar, June 27 : There are few takers for the Jammu and Kashmir government's proposal to relocate to alternative sites about 900 families from seven villages in Tangdhar area completely ravaged by last year's October 8 earthquake.

A senior civil administration official, on the condition of anonymity, told UNI here that about 900 families, comprising 6600 members, of the seven villages of Kadama, Seemari, Teethwal (part), Turban, Biyari, Drangla and Gundishah in Tangdhar area had sought relocation to alternative sites fearing the land might cave due to the devastating temblor.

He said the Geology and Mining department had declared these villages as ''unsafe and dangerous'' and suggested their relocation to other safer places.

The state administration immediately geared up to explore possibilities of shifting them to the alternative sites, he added.

On the directions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, the official said the state government had identified 500 kanals (25 hectares) of forest land at Jabri in Tangdhar area of Karnah tehsil in Kupwara district.

He said at the outset as many as 556 plots were earmarked on about 290 kanals (14.5 hectares) for relocating majority of these families. The marking of plots on the remaining land was in the process, the official added.

However, he said so far they have received only 250 applications in this regard.

''None of the applicants was pursuing their case. There is no interest among the families who had earlier vociferously demanded relocation from these unsafe villages,'' the official lamented.

UNI