*DMs of border distts start ground-level assessment
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 15: The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought from the Jammu and Kashmir administration the detailed requirement of additional bunkers in the border areas of the Union Territory and District Magistrates of all the districts sharing the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan have started a ground-level assessment.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that on receipt of a communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the administration has asked the Divisional Commissioners of the Jammu and Kashmir provinces to get the requirement of additional bunkers worked out through the District Magistrates of the concerned districts as early as possible.
“Both individual and community bunkers will be identified during the exercise, with special thrust on those areas which witnessed massive shelling for the first time during Operation Sindhoor,” sources said, adding, “the sites for the bunkers will be selected based on vulnerability, population density and the range of Pakistani shelling”.
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They further said, “for densely populated areas, community bunkers will be proposed, whereas individual bunkers will be suggested for sparsely inhabited border areas,” adding, “construction of bunkers in left-out border villages and border towns will go a long way in preventing migration in the event of future conflict”.
It is pertinent to mention here that border villages having bunkers did not witness migration, as residents preferred to stay back and take shelter after cleaning the bunkers, many of which had not been used since February 2021, when India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire understanding.
“Soon after completion of the detailed exercise in the border districts, the J&K administration will project the requirement of bunkers before the Ministry of Home Affairs, as construction is to be funded under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme,” they informed, adding, “the shortcomings experienced following construction of the already existing bunkers will be kept in mind while projecting the requirement of funds before the MHA so that additional bunkers don’t have any sort of inadequacy”.
There are seven border districts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts are located along the International Border, while Poonch and Rajouri districts share the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan in the Jammu region. There are two border areas in the Kashmir Valley—Baramulla and Kupwara.
The decision on construction of additional border bunkers was taken in the wake of Pakistan directly targeting civilian areas in Jammu and Kashmir during Operation Sindhoor in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
During Operation Sindhoor, Pakistan heavily shelled civilian areas along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch and also targeted parts of Jammu district, causing widespread damage. The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, during his visit to Poonch on May 30, one of the worst-hit districts, had announced the construction of more bunkers in border districts to enhance civilian safety.
“While working out the requirement of additional bunkers, the District Magistrates will hold detailed discussions with the security agencies also, as the pattern of shelling from across the border during Operation Sindhoor altered the threat perception”, sources said.
Meanwhile, the requirement of funds for restoration of bunkers which suffered extensive damage during the unprecedented rainfall in August–September this year will also be projected before the Ministry of Home Affairs, as both the Roads and Buildings and Rural Development Departments, which had constructed the bunkers, have expressed inability to earmark funds for this task.
“These bunkers were constructed with limited funds and no provision was kept at that time for their regular maintenance,” they said.
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