Landslide damages over dozen houses in J&K’s Ramban, 13 families shifted
The incident that took place in Duksar Dal village in Gool subdivision, 45km from Ramban district headquarters, comes barely a fortnight after 19 residential houses, a mosque, and a religious school for girls developed cracks due to land sinking at Nai Basti village of Doda district
Over a dozen houses were damaged in a massive landslide in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, rendering 13 families homeless, officials said on Sunday.

The affected families were shifted to safer locations and provided immediate relief, while the main road passing near the village was closed for vehicular traffic after developing cracks, they said.
The incident that took place in Duksar Dal village in Gool subdivision, 45km from Ramban district headquarters, comes barely a fortnight after 19 residential houses, a mosque, and a religious school for girls developed cracks due to land sinking at Nai Basti village of Doda district.
“Total 13 houses were damaged and rendered uninhabitable due to the landslide at Duksar Dal over the past three days. The affected families were shifted and provided tents, ration, utensils and blankets as immediate relief,” Gool SDM Tanveer-ul-Majeed Wani told news agency PTI.
He said the land started sliding on Friday, also affecting a local graveyard following which the mortal remains of a local were exhumed and later buried at another place.
“We are monitoring the situation and have placed restrictions for the time being on the movement of people in the area as the land is still sinking. Experts from Geological Survey of India (GSI) are visiting the place within the next couple of days to inspect the scene and look for the reasons for the sudden landslide,” the officer said.
The SDM said the main road connecting Gool and Sangaldan was closed after it also developed cracks and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was requested to make the alternative road motorable to facilitate movement of people and defence vehicles.
Raqeeb Wani, the local sarpanch, said “The people are in a panic as we have never witnessed such a thing in the past. Agricultural and horticulture land was also hit by the landslide and the farmers needed to be provided adequate compensation for the loss of fruit bearing trees.”
Landslip blocks Srinagar-Sonmarg road in Ganderbal
A landslide damaged at least four houses and blocked Srinagar-Sonmarg road in Ganderbal on Sunday evening, officials said. Initial reports said there was no loss of life in the incident, though a rescue operation was underway.
They said that a landslide was triggered at Rezin, Gagangeer, leading to blockage of the national highway. “Rescue teams of police, SDRF, and CRPF are at the spot. Senior officers are monitoring the situation closely,” a police spokesperson said.
“The national highway will be cleared with the help of BRO’s Beacon authorities,” he added.
Light rains, snow in Kashmir from today
At a time when Kashmir is witnessing above-normal temperatures for the past four days, the weather office predicted light rains and snow starting Sunday night.
The weather was partially cloudy during the day with the meteorological department expecting light rain and snow at isolated to scattered higher reaches of Kashmir division during the night hours.
“There is a prediction of light rains and snow from Sunday night till Tuesday,” said an official of the MeT.
After February 22, the weather is likely to remain dry, but the department expects a wet spell again on February 25. The J&K disaster management authority has also issued an avalanche warning to four districts -- Ganderbal, Bandipora, Baramulla and Kupwara.
The minimum and maximum temperatures in Kashmir valley hovered above normal with Srinagar recording 6.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, some 6.6 notches above normal. Pahalgam in Anantnag witnessed 2.1°C, around 6.5 degrees above normal, while it was 2°C in Gulmarg, about 8.8 degrees above normal.
Kupwara witnessed 5.1°C while it was 3.2°C in Kokernag and 2.2°C in Pampore’s Konibal.
Jammu city witnessed 14.1°C, while it was 13.4°C in Kathua.