Slipping mountain threatens 300 homes

FAIZABAD (PAN): A large section of a mountain is slipping in the Tishkan district of northwestern Badakhshan province, threatening 300 homes, said residents, who appealed for urgent evacuation to safer places.

Badakhshan, which is a mountainous province, often remains under threat of earthquakes, hill slides and snow avalanches, making its residents to live in constant fear.

About 300 homes that sit at the bottom of the slide in Balay village were threatened, residents said.

A dweller of the area, Basir Ahmad, told Pajhwok Afghan News a large crack had appeared in the mountain after heavy snowing. “Now it is moving toward our village.”

Houses on the cracked site had damaged and families spent nights in fear of a possible catastrophe, he said.

Provincial Natural Disasters Management Authority Director Syed Abdullah Humayun said vulnerable families would be shifted to safer areas soon.

He added $8,042 had been approved by the vice-president for distribution to the families.

Each family would be given 15,000 afghanis to pay for shifting expenses, he said, adding some aid-giving organizations would be also approached to rescue the families from any possible disaster.

Expert Mohammad Usman Abuzar said the graph of natural disasters in Badakhshan had always been high, making it difficult to distribute aid and ward off other threats.

He called Tishkan one of disaster-prone areas, asking the government should move fast to rescue the 300 families.

Tirgani area on the outskirts of Faizabad, the provincial capital, is also being threatened by a mountain slide. Families in the area have asked the government to deal with the problem as the situation was fast deteriorating.

Governor Shah Wali Adib has recently announced that 50,000 families in the province were under threat of natural disasters. He has said all families would be moved to secure areas through the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG).

mds/ma

Visits: 2