Restoration yet to start as R&B, RDD don’t have funds
Prolonged water stagnation can weaken structural strength
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 8: Thousands of underground bunkers built along the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts to provide safe shelter to the border residents during cross-border shelling have been rendered useless after the recent spell of torrential rains.
Most of these community and individual bunkers, constructed by the Roads & Buildings (R&B) Department and the Rural Development Department (RDD), are now filled with water and silt and despite the gravity of the situation, no steps have been taken so far to clean or restore them.
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As per the reports from several villages close to the International Border in these three districts, the heavy and continuous rainfall over the past few weeks turned the bunkers into virtual filth-ridden water tanks. Being constructed underground, they bore the maximum brunt of the torrential downpour and the ingress of rainwater, compounded by mudslides from adjoining fields, has rendered these bunkers unsafe and unusable.
“Almost every bunker is either filled with water or silt. No one can even enter them now,” said some villagers of the forward areas of R S Pura, adding “this is mainly because during construction no effective measures were adopted to prevent rainwater seepage or ensure proper drainage around the bunkers despite the region’s vulnerability to heavy monsoon rains”.
“As vast stretches of fields along the International Border remain waterlogged and intermittent showers continue to lash the region, the condition of the bunkers is feared to deteriorate further. With each spell of rain, more water and silt are likely to seep inside, compounding the damage and making restoration an even more challenging task”, they said and stressed that unless immediate preventive measures are taken, the situation is bound to worsen with every passing day.
Experts warn that prolonged stagnation of water inside underground bunkers can weaken their structural strength and make them unsafe for use in future. Accumulated mud and silt will further complicate the restoration process, increasing both cost and time. They suggest that an immediate joint survey by both executing agencies, in coordination with district administrations, should be ordered to prepare a realistic assessment report.
Officials of both the R&B and Rural Development Departments, when contacted, admitted that no cleaning exercise has been undertaken so far. They cited continuous rainfall and shortage of manpower as the reasons for the delay.
However, they also conceded that before any cleaning can be carried out, a thorough assessment of the damages is required to ascertain the extent to which the structures have been compromised. “If the walls or the ceilings have developed cracks due to water pressure, then simple cleaning will not be enough. Detailed inspection is necessary,” said a senior officer on condition of anonymity.
Further, these departments don’t have separate funds to clean the bunkers and make them usable again. “These bunkers were constructed with limited funds and no provision was kept at that time for their regular maintenance as such Government will have to earmark certain funds for this task or alternatively the concerned district administration can use its resources for making the bunkers usable”, the officials said.
Experts recommend an immediate joint survey by R&B and RDD with district administrations to assess damages, followed by dewatering, cleaning and strengthening measures. Delay, they caution, will not only increase costs but could also make restoration unfeasible.
Some officers in the Jammu district administration, when contacted, said, “reports about the condition of the bunkers have been sought from the concerned Block Development Officers (BDOs)”, adding “the decision about the cleaning process will be taken thereafter”.
The coming days will reveal whether the authorities treat the issue with the urgency it deserves. For now, thousands of bunkers remain waterlogged symbols of neglect in the frontline districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua.
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