Border management is a major issue in the overall security scenario. We have a long border with Pakistan and China. Both countries being hostile to us, are not behaving as responsible neighbours as would meet the internationalnorms of good neighbourliness. Particularly with Pakistan, we are very uneasy. Pakistan has been violating the cease fire agreement by virtue of which cease fire between India and Pakistan came into being on the midnight of December 31, 1948. Despite reinforcement of this cease fire agreement by other agreements — Shimla Agreement and 2003 agreement, peace and tranquility could not be ensure along the LoC. Additionally, Pakistan involved International Border also in her programme of creating border tension between the two countries. Thus today we have both borders meaning the LoC and the IB in a state of tension.
In any case the border has to be protected. A number of devices have been initiated sine long time to ensure that people living close to the LoC and the IB are protected against the damages caused by unprovoked shelling and firing. The border people are forced to abandon their homes and hearth and along with their families and cattle, have to move back to safer places. This involves hundreds of families. With the increase in hostilities and frequent recurrence of border shelling and firing, the Home Ministry decided to construct a large number of underground as well as over ground bunkers along the IB line. Five border districts of Jammu region namely Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch were brought under focus. The Home Ministry conducted detailed survey and then accorded sanction to a plan under which 60 bunkers were to be constructed at a cost of 3 crore rupees on pilot basis. It meant that each bunker was to be constructed at a cost of 5 lakh rupees. Althoughthe cost of constructing the bunkers was to be met by the Home Ministry, yet the Ministry agreed that the construction could be undertaken under the supervision of the State Rural Development Department. Under the approved plan 20 persons were to be accommodated by each bunker and the bunker would have the basic facilities of electricity, water and sanitation. The work ultimately was assigned to the Block Development Officers in 7 blocks.
It is regrettable that out of 60 only 15 bunkers have been constructed so far and work on 30 other bunkers is going on at snail’s pace. The work on the remaining bunkers is yet to take place. This is the progress made during more than a year when the scheme was announced.
Obviously, the functionaries of the Rural Development Department are soft-paddling with the scheme. How unfortunate that even in a matter of serious security concern these functionaries are behaving as if they are not part of this society and should not care for the security of the nation and the people who are to bear the brunt of enemy’s shelling and firing. This is not the first time when we have taken up this issue. The worst part is that in many of the bunkers that have been dug, there is water logging. Nobody at the level of the Rural Development Department ever cared to pay attention to the question whether the site proposed for construction of a bunker would be allowed by its water level. Why not the water level of the site was first ascertained and then work begun. Since the water table is not deep, oozing water has made these bunkers useless. Now, the project before the authorities is how to de-water the bunkers. Even that is not the solution because water will continue to ooze and bunker will continue to remain water logged. The BDOs are advancing a flimsy and unsustainable plea that rain water during rainy season collected in it. This is totally unacceptable because it was the duty of the authorities at the helm of affairs to ensure that the bunker would not be filled with water. The directions from the Home Ministry were that wherever water level would not allow construction of underground bunkers, over ground bunkers should be constructed. This directive was violated. At the end of the day the bunkers whose water level is high are rendered useless. The expenditure caused through negligence of the BDOs and others in the RDD on the bunkers which have been filled with underground water are situated in Arnia, Pargwal, Marh and Akhnoor areas is a total waste. Therefore, we would suggest that an inquiry be instituted into the case and responsibility fixed. If a proper inquiry reveals that this loss to the state exchequer has happened owing to the dereliction of duty, then officials held responsible shall have to make good the loss.Nobody should be allowed to play with the security of the nation. A general impression carried by the observers is that the State Government is in the habit of soft-paddling with most of the developmental scheme of the Union Government. We have also hinted at it at several times in these columns. This also needs to be looked into by the State Government. Finally care has to be taken that firstly the remaining bunkers come up within the shortest possible time and secondly the new ones should not be prone to ravages of water level.
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