RS Pura. After the Pahalgam attack, there has been a war in India and Pakistan. Due to this, there is an atmosphere of fear in the villages on the border. They are again engaged in repairing the old bunkers, where they used to save their lives by hiding. However, they are also very worried about the condition of these bunkers.
The villagers settled on the border of Jammu are immediately appealing to repair and complete the construction work on the border of Jammu amid growing tension on the Indo-Pak border and the possibility of war. These bunkers act as their only shield during the border shelling.
The recent terrorist attacks in Pahalgam (in which 26 tourists lost their lives) have wired the atmosphere of temporary peace brought by the 2021 ceasefire agreement. With the increase in concern in the border villages, the residents say that the ‘deteriorating situation’ of the bunkers has made them unsafe.
In villages like Chandu Chak, located just 500 meters from Pakistani posts (which have suffered shelling in 2020, 2018 and 2014) are very few bunkers, many of which are incomplete or unusable. Chandu Chak resident Suchet Singh said, ‘Most of the bunkers have been ruined. There is neither electricity, no water, nor toilets – there is no roof in some. He said, ‘Two years ago this work was left incomplete. We do not know why the work stopped.
Many bunkers made under the initiative of the Modi government to provide security to those on the border have become dilapidated due to poor maintenance and surveillance. Singh said, ‘These bunkers have saved the lives of people before, but in their current condition they cannot protect anyone.’
Paramjit Kaur (56) pointed to a half-incomplete bunker built in his village and asked, ‘If the shelling starts again, where will we take our children and cattle? we are poor. The government should complete this bunker immediately. The young residents also have the same fear and they are demanding intervention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Manjut Chaudhary, a sixth grade student, said, ‘Modi ji should get the roof of our bunker fixed. I have seen the shelling before – it is very scary. A resident living on the border said, ‘We are unable to sleep at night. Every voice scares us.
According to officials, 7,923 bunkers (6,964 individual and 959 community) have been prepared so far in Jammu division. Work on 9,905 more bunkers in various stages of construction is still going on. The sanctioned number includes 13,029 individual and 1,431 community bunkers, which are designed to give shelter to eight and forty people respectively.