Ferheen Ali
Port Blair, June 6: Heavy monsoon has hit these Islands and along with heavy rain the chances of landslides in many areas has increased manifold.
At Shadipur area, near income tax office, a portion of retaining wall next to the main road today collapsed and now residents of the area fear that a three storey building next to the retaining wall might collapse during next spell of heavy rain.
The old house has already suffered cracks due to sliding and now the people residing in the building feel that they are not safe anymore. “We are having sleepless nights,” said the house owner.
Upon receiving the information, the Deputy Commissioner took swift action and directed the Tehsildar and the other higher authorities to visit the concerned area to conduct a ground level inspection.
On inspecting the area and recording the seriousness of the issue, senior officials were present during the inspection assured the owner of the house to build the retaining wall so that further sliding of the land could be prevented.
According to the owner of the house, many requests have been sent to the APWD earlier to repair the damaged retaining wall, but no steps were taken earlier, which led to this disaster.
Let’s hope the retaining wall is constructed as early as possible. So that one building and lives of people living in it could be saved.
