Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Sept 2: People in border belt of Samba district today urged the administration to take immediate steps in renovation of bunkers which have not been designed properly as water gets accumulated in them during rainy season due to which they can’t be used by the local residents for refuge in the event of firing from across the border.
The residents of border belt especially in Chachwal Panchayat of the Samba district said that many bunkers of filled with rain water and unfit for being used by the people in the event of border skirmishes. They alleged that the bunkers have not been designed properly so that the rain water does not enter and they can be used for entire year by the people whenever need be.
The residents said what has been fun of constructing these bunkers when they can’t be used in the hour of need and the huge amount spent on them is a total wastage. They demanded that immediate steps be taken by the administration in renovating the bunkers and taking remedial measures so that the water does not enter in them and people can take refuge in them during cross border shelling.
Veena Rani, Surinder Singh, Ramesh Singh and Harbans, Sarpanch of Chachwal, Panchayat of district Samba, said that when the work of the bunkers was done, people had a sigh of relief that now the border people would not be a victim of Pak firing whenever firing by Pakistan side takes place. They said the people at that time can take refuge in the bunkers but without technical efficiency, maximum bunkers in the area are waterlogged. They said that there is knee deep water in these bunkers due to which there is a lot of anger among the people. People of border area have sought the intervention of DC Samba, Rohit Khajuria and urged him to look into the matter.
Local sarpanch, Veena Rani said that among the bunkers built in the jurisdiction of her Panchayat, some remain water logged causing a lot of worry among the people. The people have apprehensions that in the event of cross border shelling these bunkers will be of no use to them and they will be forced to migrate to safer places.
Sarpanch Veena Rani told that about one and a half years ago the work of bunkers was put up but till date the entry of some bunkers has not been made by increasing the condition of the court, due to which the rain water in some bunkers is going into the bunkers. People have demanded from DC Samba that the errors in making these bunkers should be cleared soon.
However Executive Engineer, R&B Samba, Rajesh Abrol said that the problem of water logging is in some bunkers as the Mounties were not constructed on them. These bunkers were designed without mezzanine flours (Mounties) but after the Departmental engineers realized that the border belt being water logged area they will not remains successful there and the water will get accumulated in them during rainy season so we decided to construct `Mounties’ on them. While work on some `Mounties’ is going on and others will too be constructed soon after which the problem will not be there.
He said new bunkers are now being constructed by Rural Development Department (RDD) while earlier they were constructed by R&B and the Department has started construction of Mounties on them after it received the complaints that bunkers get waterlogged in Monsoon and Winter rains.
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