Shimla, Aug. 14 -- Owing to land subsidence, residents of Shakrala village on the outskirts of Shimla live in fear as around 150 houses in the area have developed cracks, raising safety concerns and leading many residents to consider relocation. The residents have urged the administration to conduct a detailed soil and geological assessment and put in place an effective engineering and drainage solution as the area for over two years has been witnessing subsidence of land which gets aggravated in monsoon. Officials in the know blame the surface water, unplanned and haphazard construction that is adversely affecting the stability. "For the last two to three years, the land has been continuously sinking. Cracks keep appearing again and again. We repair them, but after some time the cracks return. We still do not know the exact reason whether it is because of the four-lane construction, rainwater from the roofs or wastewater from toilets," said Seema Verma, resident of Shakrala. Another resident Ram Krishna Sharma said, "We have already informed the administration and a team had also visited earlier, but so far no concrete result has come out about why the land is repeatedly sinking." He added that he has spent around Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.3 lakh on repairing his house, but the cracks continued to reappear. Another resident, Gulab Singh, said "We are definitely scared. People in the family say that we should shift from here, but what can we do? We have invested everything here. As long as we can stay, we are staying." Priya Chauhan, another local resident, said, "Residents had collectively spent around Rs.7-8 lakh from their own pockets to improve drainage and divert wastewater. "We have spent at least Rs.7 to 8 lakh ourselves to manage the wastewater and rainwater. In some houses, we have installed pipelines and started diverting the water, but many houses are still not connected," she said. Responding to the concerns, Manjeet Sharma, sub-divisional magistrate Shimla Rural, said, "We had received the complaint regarding the same after which I had visited the village. I have submitted a report in this regard." "The matter is in our notice and we will be taking preventive measures. We will also get the soil testing done to ascertain the cause of land subsidence. The land subsidence has aggravated in the last few months and is affecting the entire hill," said Anirudh Singh, panchayati raj minister and MLA from Kasumpati constituency....