Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 18: In what could be a major relief for thousands of people living along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in five districts of Jammu region, the Centre and State Governments would jointly take up construction of bunkers in some of the areas even as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has agreed to give nod to initiate construction work to help the border dwellers, who had to suffer a lot due to continuous mortar shelling and firing from Pakistan.
Following Centre’s directive, the State Government has asked administration of five districts of Jammu region to submit their total requirement of the bunkers for the people living in firing and shelling prone areas to protect them. In the meantime, the State Government has decided to take up on its own construction of bunkers at some places pending approval of the Union Home Ministry especially along the LoC to help the people, who were almost regularly facing Pakistan’s mortar shelling for the past quite some time now.
Official sources told the Excelsior that pending completion of comprehensive exercise by the administration of five districts including Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri for finding permanent solution to the problems of border dwellers with construction of concrete bunkers, the State Government would construct some bunkers on its own. Of five districts, Jammu, Samba and Kathua fall on the International Border (IB) while Rajouri and Poonch districts were located on the Line of Control (LoC).
“A beginning has been made from Rajouri district, which was worst victim of recent mortar shelling by Pakistan army leading to killing of three civilians including two women last month and injuries to many others apart from loss of cattle and damage to property,” sources said.
When approached for comments, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dr Mandeep K Bhandari said the Government has asked the District Development Commissioners of all five border districts in Jammu region to submit fresh proposal for construction of bunkers for the people living along LoC and IB. He added that the administration has also started construction of some bunkers on its own in Rajouri district for the shelling victims of Nowshera sector.
“Some more bunkers could be taken up in the border districts, especially in the areas that were more prone to Pakistan’s shelling and firing, by the administration on its own,” Dr Bhandari added.
Sources said the Union Home Ministry has agreed to reimburse amount incurred on construction of bunkers for the border dwellers but it want them to be completely safe from Pakistan’s shelling and firing and constructed at the places close to the people’s houses so that they can easily shift there in case of any eventuality.
It may be mentioned here that in the aftermath of recent tensions along LoC especially in Nowshera and Manjakote sectors of Rajouri district, the State Government had taken up proposal with the Union Home Ministry for construction of community bunkers for border dwellers. The Union Home Ministry, headed by BJP veteran Rajnath Singh, had earlier approved construction of 60 community bunkers in Jammu district on trial basis to know whether they would be useful for the people living in the border villages in the event of Pakistan shelling and firing.
Sources said the community bunkers were at the advanced stage of construction in Jammu district and their experiment seems to be successful as they can accommodate around 20 persons at a time along with their requirements like cooking material etc.
“As the experiment seems successful, the Government wants the Union Home Ministry to go for construction of community bunkers in all five border districts of Jammu region including Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch to help the border people shift to bunkers immediately during shelling or firing by Pakistani troops,” sources said, adding this will help avoid civilian casualties as well as frequent conversion of Government schools into the migrant camps. During recent intense mortar shelling in Nowshera sector, four Government schools had been converted into the migrant camps while many more had been identified for use if the number of migrants increased.
The Home Ministry had earlier given Rs 3 crore to the State Government for construction of 60 community bunkers in Jammu district at the cost of Rs 5 lakh per bunker.
Sources said the State Government has now decided to vigorously pursue the demand for construction of bunkers in all five border districts of Jammu region with the Union Home Ministry in the wake of recent heavy shelling in Nowshera sector in which Pakistan army had directly targeted the civilian population, forcing large number of people to migrate and put up in the Government schools, which were converted into the make shift camps to accommodate the border dwellers.
With tensions increasing between India and Pakistan on every passing day, there seems to be no immediate end to border skirmishes between the two hostile neighbours and, according to sources, in such a condition, the construction of bunkers has become a necessity for safety and security of large number of border population.
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