Soil cracks threaten 33 houses

Antara News, Monday, October 11, 2010 16:09 WIB

Tasikmalaya, W Java (ANTARA News) - Cracks in the soil are threatening 33 houses in Batu Sumur village, Manonjaya sub-district, Tasikmalaya district, West Java, the village`s head said.

Besides the houses that sheltered 115 people, a mosque was also on the unstable soil that was on the verge of collapsing, Head of Batu Sumur Village Endang Ruhimat said here Monday.

"Villagers whose houses are on the unstable soil have become so concerned about the threatening situation because some houses have begun to crack up," he said.

Despite the fragile situation, the ill-fated families had no choice but kept on staying in theirs. They opted to take refuge to their relatives or neighbors` houses to escape from undesired eventualities, he said.

"If torrential rain showers our village, residents move to their relatives` or neighbors` houses for safety," he said.

In helping the families, Ruhimat said he had prepared a piece of land for relocating the families whose houses were situated on the unstable soil.

However, the surface of the land needs to be leveled by caterpillar before the people were asked to move there.

"The villagers are waiting for the relocation but please level the surface of the land that we have prepared before they are relocated."

"We want the government to send a caterpillar to level the surface of the land," he said.