Shell-hit J&K villagers await relief amid assessment row

TWO weeks after the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan came into effect after three days of intense skirmishes following the May 7 Operation Sindoor, the ruling National Conference (NC) legislators from Uri and Poonch, the areas most affected by cross-border shelling, have claimed that the administration is yet to complete the damage assessment.

- FAYAZ WANI @Srinagar

However, the Chief Minister's advisor has asserted that the assessment has been finished and the government is now awaiting a central relief package.

The Pakistani shelling in the border areas of J&K left at least 18 civilians dead including 13 in Poonch, 3 in Rajouri and one each in Uri and Jammu and over 100 injured.

The worst-hit areas include Poonch, Rajouri, and Uri, where hundreds of houses and structures were damaged.

MLA Uri Sajjad Shafi told this newspaper that the damage assessment by the district administration is ongoing but has not been completed.