CHAMBA, March 6: Hundreds of villagers have been rendered homeless due to the landslide caused by heavy rain in Hadsar village, 86 km from here. The village has started sinking. Many houses have been damaged and water-mills have been washed away.The village was declared 'danger-zone' by the administration in 1995 after the Manimahesh calamity. Unprecedented rain had destroyed properties worth crores and many people had lost their lives. The administration had asked the villagers to leave and had tried to settle them separately at different places. However, the villagers wanted to settle at one place to save their identity. They had suggested a place near the existing village. The district administration had shown its helplessness as that land belonged to the forest department.In the subsequent years there were no landslides. However, due to heavy rains this year, the landslides have damaged almost all houses belonging to the 77 families living here.Kartar Singh, vice-chairman, BDC, Bharmour, told ENS today, on phone, that a team headed by a Kanoongo had gone to the village to assess the damages. He said that he had demanded a helicopter to provide relief articles, including food and clothes, as all road links had been disturbed due to landslides and glaciers in between Hadsar and Bharmour.Tarun Kapoor, Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, told ENS that a team has already been dispatched to the village, to give relief to the villagers and estimate the loss. He added that 25 families had been shifted to safer houses in the village, while a few were taking shelter in the Tourism Sarai, where as tents are being provided to the homeless for temporary shelter.As wheat flour is not available in the village efforts are being made to dispatch atta to the village, Kapoor added.
