Three families comprising 10 members were evacuated after land subsidence damaged residential houses and caused cracks in a village along the Chenab River in Rajgarh tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, officials said on Monday.The subsidence was reported at Kulthi Chakka Kundi, triggering concern among residents, particularly following recent heavy rainfall in parts of the district. Administrative, revenue and rescue teams reached the area and shifted the affected families to safer locations.

Tehsildar Rajgarh Major Singh said a non-residential structure belonging to Bhagat Ram was washed away, while cracks appeared in the houses of Chaat Ram, Chaman Lal and Bhushan Lal over the past few days.

Singh said he visited the site with a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and evacuated the affected families. Tents were provided to them as temporary accommodation.The Naib Tehsildar and other officials have remained stationed in the village to monitor the situation, he said.

Residents, however, reported cracks and damage to several other houses, including those belonging to Dev Raj, Hari Ram, Santosh Singh, Fallal Singh and Shashram.

The exact cause of the land subsidence and structural damage has not yet been established, officials said. Some residents apprehended that water released from the Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project following heavy rainfall may have contributed to ground instability.

BJP Ramban district president Neelam Kumar Lange also visited the affected area and sought compensation and rehabilitation for the affected families. He expressed concern over what he described as the absence of ministers or MLAs from the National Conference-led government at the site.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident in neighbouring Doda district, the SDRF rescued a person and is making efforts to retrieve a sand-extraction boat after both were swept away by strong currents in the Chenab River near Pul Doda on Monday morning.

Officials identified the rescued man as a non-local worker employed as an operator of the sand-extraction machine. He was working for a private company that had been awarded the sand-extraction contract in the area.