Border dwellers in Jammu demand urgent repair of bunkers

FEARS OF WAR

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

With tensions escalating along the Indo-Pak border and fears of a war looming large, border villagers of Jammu are urgently appealing for the repair and completion of pending construction work of border bunkers that serve as their only shield during cross-border shelling.

The recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives of tourists, has shattered the fragile peace brought about by the 2021 ceasefire agreement.

As anxiety surges in border villages, residents say the "deteriorating state" of bunkers has left them vulnerable.

Located just 500 metres from Pakistani posts, villages like Chandu Chak — which has previously endured shelling in 2020, 2018, and 2014 — have a handful of bunkers, many of which are incomplete or unusable.

"Most bunkers are in ruins. There is no electricity, no water, no toilets — some even lack roofs," said Suchet Singh, a resident of Chandu Chak.