JAMMU: With mortar shelling by Pakistan continuing unabated in Jammu, the Centre and the state governments of Jammu & Kashmir have speeded up construction of bunkers in the border areas.
Highly placed sources in the Jammu & Kashmir administration told New Indian Express that a total of 98 community bunkers are being constructed along the border in RS Pura, Arnia, Suchetgarh, Akhnoor sectors, among others.
"About 40 bunkers have been constructed already while work is going on at a brisk pace on the remaining. A total of 98 bunkers are being constructed under the centre-state partnership. The Ministry of Home Affairs is funding about 60 bunkers,’’ a senior IAS official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Two days ago, district development commissioner Simrandeep Singh and other officials reviewed the construction of community bunkers.
According to the officials, the cost of construction of each bunker is about Rs 5 lakh. It can accommodate about 40 persons. Once shelling starts, people are quickly moved into these bunkers, but villagers complain that they are forced to leave their cattle behind. An official said hundreds of cattle have died in the shelling in recent weeks and the government has had to pay farmers Rs 30,000 per head of cattle.
In fact, recently, when chief minister Mehbooba Mufti visited the border areas, she went a step ahead and directed her administration to prepare proposals for construction of individual bunkers so the people can shift their with their cattle when shelling commences.
"About 50 bunkers are in an advanced stage of construction and they would be ready by December 25. In the old bunkers, there were issues of waterlogging but we have resolved them by adopting different methods like creating drainage and water proofing. The construction of these bunkers started just days after the surgical strikes on Sept. 29.