Three more residential houses and a 33-kV power transmission line were damaged due to "sinking" of land in the hilly Duksar Dalwa village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, officials said on Monday.

A team of Geological Survey of India (GSI) is visiting the village on Tuesday to ascertain the reasons for the sudden "sinking" of land, which has so far rendered 16 families homeless besides damaging a 500-metre stretch of now closed Sangaldan-Gool road, the officials said.

Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mussarat Islam visited the village and interacted with the affected families, assuring them of every possible help from the administration in their rehabilitation.

He directed the Gool Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Tanveer-ul-Majeed Wani, to process relief cases of damaged houses on war-footing under SDRF to provide assistance to victims in the shortest possible time.

Islam said a total of 16 affected families have been shifted to safer places, besides providing tents, blankets and utensils to them.

The land sinking in the village started on Friday and so far 16 houses were damaged, with three of them developing cracks on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

The GSI experts are scheduled to arrive at Duksar on Tuesday to ascertain the reasons behind the sinking of land, the officials said, adding the electricity supply to a dozen panchayats in Gool was snapped following damage to the 33-kV power transmission line passing through the village.

The deputy commissioner also inspected the Dharam-Salballa road to use it as a temporary alternate route for regulating essential services and supplies to Gool and directed the Public Works Department to make the road traffic worthy.

He also passed the directions to officers concerned for the restoration of power and water supply in affected areas, the officials said, adding directions were given for quick relaying of the 33 KV network so that power supply to Gool is restored.

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