Border Residents Demand Underground Bunkers in View of heightened Border Tensions

Uri, Nov 14: Residents of the border areas reiterated their demand for the construction of underground bunkers, saying that it would provide a safe haven for civilians to protect themselves during cross border shelling.
Dozens of people have been killed in border areas between India and Pakistan in 1996 till this day.
According to people living in the bordering areas of Uri, Gurez, Keran, Machil and Jammu, Heavy shelling is witnessed in almost hundreds of times in a year. Later, people migrated to safer places and apart from normal life; children’s education was also badly affected. They said that the peace process between India and Pakistan which started in 2003 and ceasefire was declared on the borders.
The people here also breathed a sigh of relief and those who had migrated from here also returned and the lands were shaken again by the shelling. Clouds of war were hovering over the heads, but now that the ceasefire on the borders is being violated once again. And the people feel that the situation is going back to the situation of 1996. He said that in 1996 the government asked the people to form a front and also announced to give Rs. 20,000 for their construction. However, they alleged that out of the amount announced for construction, the government released only Rs 10,000 while the rest went into unknown pockets. They added that those who had built the fronts were also destroyed in the devastating earthquake of October 8.
They rued that there was no place for people to hide. They claimed that the urban population living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir are facing more problems. They lamented that there is no such place which can provide a safe haven for civilians to protect themselves during shelling incidents.
The people also decried that residents of Jammu and Kashmir’s border and LoC areas have been the worst hit by clashes and hostilities with the LOC.
They demanded that the Government of India should take concrete steps for their safety and security. They further said that people living near the LoC in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora districts and in the border areas of Jammu province live in constant fear and anguish. (CNS)