Residents of landslide-prone village in UKhand to be relocated soon

The wait of more than 50 families of the landslide-prone Chalna Chilaso village of Dharchula sub-division for relocation to a safer place may come to an end soon with the administration having finished preparations for starting the process.

The 52 families in the village, declared uninhabitable by geologists in 2018 because of its extreme vulnerability to landslides, have long been awaiting relocation.

“All processes required for rehabilitation including geological testing of the old settlement, selection of new land, the list of families to be rehabilitated and 29 other points suggested by the government have been completed. We are expecting budget approval in one or two weeks to begin the process of shifting the village,” Dharchula SDM AK Shukla said.

The safer places identified for relocation of the families are Thulsen, Mathkhanna and Payyadhar, which are not far from Chalna Chilaso, he said.

According to the chief geologist of the district, Pradeep Kumar, the village was categorised as Sensitive Landslide Zone in the year 2013 when it started sliding downwards.

“After three houses slid downwards in 2018, we declared the village completely uninhabitable,” Kumar, who has done the geological survey of the village since 2013, said.

If the government sanctions the money required for relocation, the villagers will get rid of their fear of sliding houses, Gram Pradhan Pooja Verma said.

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