Kalang Village Faces Slow Disaster as Families Relocate Amid Land Cracks
A Village in Peril
Munish Sood
MANDI: Kalang village, located near the renowned Prashar Lake in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, is experiencing a gradual yet devastating disaster. Once a charming hilltop community, Kalang is now deteriorating both physically and emotionally. The ground is sinking, homes are cracking, and fields are splitting, creating a looming threat of total collapse for its residents.
Evacuations Due to Land Instability
Recently, the district administration has relocated 14 families as the land continues to crack and hills slide due to severe monsoon rains. Officials have deemed the area unsafe for living, highlighting the urgent need for long-term rehabilitation and a serious examination of the delicate Himalayan ecosystem.
Villagers Express Their Fears
Raj Thakur, a long-time resident, shared, “The land behind our homes is sliding rapidly, and large cracks have formed in our fields. We are uncertain if our village can withstand another monsoon.”
This situation is not a sudden crisis but rather the result of over a decade of gradual land movement. Since 2013, locals have observed increasing fissures and sinking ground. By 2024, three homes became uninhabitable and had to be abandoned, and a primary school has already succumbed to erosion. More than 100 bighas of farmland have turned into unstable debris.
“The soil here is no longer reliable,” another villager lamented. “We are still here, but our village is fading away.”
Temporary Solutions Amid Ongoing Concerns
In light of the escalating risks, the Mandi district administration has moved the affected families to temporary shelters consisting of 17 tents on government land. Efforts are underway to provide electricity and water. Additional District Magistrate Madan Kumar stated, “The safety of residents is our utmost priority.” However, villagers argue that this relocation merely postpones a larger tragedy unless permanent solutions and ecological restoration are pursued.
Calls for Action and Policy Gaps
Chhape Ram, vice-pradhan of the local panchayat, expressed frustration, saying, “We’ve been alerting officials since 2014. Only now, when the land is visibly deteriorating, has action commenced. It feels too little, too late.”
This landslide-prone area has always been susceptible to extreme weather, but climate change and human activities have exacerbated the situation. In 2023, the nearby Bagi stream overflowed, leading to the collapse of a crucial bridge due to a landslide from the same hills threatening Kalang.
Environmental experts attribute the crisis to irregular monsoons, deforestation, unscientific road construction, and inadequate geological assessments. “This is not an isolated incident. The Himalayas are signaling us — yet we remain unresponsive,” remarked a senior environmentalist from IIT-Mandi.
Kalang is just one of many villages in the Himalayan region facing existential threats, but it could also serve as a wake-up call for national policymakers, climate strategists, and disaster management agencies.
Immediate demands from the village include designating Kalang as a landslide-risk zone, ensuring permanent relocation for displaced families, establishing early warning systems, implementing scientific land-use planning, and initiating large-scale reforestation and slope stabilization efforts.
“As the nation witnesses disasters in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Himachal year after year, Kalang serves as a reminder that these are not isolated incidents. They are warnings. The longer we delay our response, the more lives and land we will lose,” the environmentalist concluded.
List of Displaced Families
- Bhiniri Singh, S/o Balaram
- Lal Singh, S/o Balaram
- Prem Singh (80), S/o Narataru
- Kum Dev (81), S/o Narataru
- Rajan (50), S/o Daulat Ram
- Yadav Singh (51) S/o Tek Chand
- Ram Litte (29) S/o Balimandar
- Chandramani (51)
- Jagdish (52)
- Ramesh Kumar S/o Ved Ram
- Man Singh (51)
- Kalidevi W/o Balaram
- Jaspal S/o Dr Daulat Ram