About 250 houses are facing an imminent threat of collapse as huge chunks of land in Alipur Khalsa village near here are sinking due to “excessive and illegal mining of sand”. Reckless mining over the years has created a 90-feet deep crater spread over 100 acres.

The crater’s edges are vulnerable to slides during rains, which have resulted in large-scale sinking of the land. Villagers have already lost over three aces of agricultural land to the slides. The village has a population of around 2,000. The government had banned sand mining in the village in 2000 but illegal mining resumed some months back. The district authorities had even caught some people involved in illegal mining and heaps of extracted sand is still piled up in the village. “About 250 houses are on the brink of collapse as the land is sinking. “We have shifted out our precious and expensive household goods and animals as our houses could collapse anytime,” said Jagat Singh, a villager.

The administration has been informed but only a Naib Tehsildar came to take stock. “It was just a formality visit. He did not take any action,” villagers said. Some villagers have engaged a JCB machine to pile up sand on the edge of the crater to save their houses. The machines cost villagers Rs 700 an hour, which they say is a small price to pay to save their homes.