Nine Bhaniad families fear collapse as hills give way

Nine poor Scheduled Caste (SC) families residing in Bhaniad ward of Bhali gram panchayat, under the Jawali Assembly constituency, are living in constant fear as the threat of landslides looms large over their homes. Their nightmare began after a five-storey building collapsed in Shimla on June 30, a tragedy allegedly caused by massive, unscientific hill cutting for a four-lane highway construction project.

These families, living on the upper slopes of Bhali panchayat, blame the reckless vertical hill cutting—at near 90-degree angles—taking place just 2 to 5 metres from their homes for the instability of the terrain. They say this excessive cutting has not only endangered the hill’s structure but has also caused cracks in their ancestral houses.

Surinder Kumar, Harbans Lal, Khushi Ram, Mahinder Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Charan Singh, Prem, Raj Kumar and Punya Devi—a widow—are among those affected. Harbans Lal, speaking through tears, shared that his house had developed wide cracks. “We have pleaded with local officials, NHAI and even the highway construction company multiple times to stop this reckless cutting and take safety measures,” he said. “But nobody listens. Neither the BJP nor the Congress cares about our safety.”

Khushbu Devi, another resident, echoed his anguish, saying the villagers had approached the Jawali SDM and even the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, but no action was taken. “We’ve been living in fear for the last one and a half years,” she said. “Officials haven’t even visited to inspect our homes.” Housewives Darshna Devi and Asha added that families stay awake during rains, terrified that their cracked and unsafe homes might collapse anytime.

All nine families claim their village has become virtually uninhabitable due to the damage caused by the vertical cutting for the Seuni-Rajol section of the Pathankot-Mandi four-lane project. They have made a collective demand for either relocation to safer areas or adequate compensation to rebuild their homes elsewhere.

Shockingly, the construction company engaged in this project has not implemented any protective measures such as wire netting, rock bolting, or other landslide-prevention technologies on the excavated slopes, despite this area being recognised as landslide-prone.

Aman Rana, a resident of Takhniar village in the same panchayat and an environmentalist, has been raising the alarm on various platforms for over 18 months. He suspects a nexus between the NHAI and the construction company. “The hills in this area are rich in minerals like hard stones and gravel. The company has deliberately carried out vertical cutting, not just for road construction but also to extract these materials, ignoring the safety of Bhaniad’s residents.”

As monsoon rains lash the region, the cries of these villagers continue to go unheard, trapped between collapsing hills and official apathy.

Himachal Tribune