A group of sarpanches from Karnah near the Line of Control in Kupwara told reporters at Press Enclave in Srinagar on Friday that continued shelling from Pakistan was taking a heavy toll on the residents of Karnah as the government was dilly-dallying on the construction underground bunkers in the area.
They urged the government to construct underground bunkers on a war footing.
“A few weeks back, there was shelling from Pakistan and all of us were praying for our lives,’’ Khalid Badana, a sarpanch, said. He said they recently held a meeting with the divisional commissioner Baseer Khan and apprised him of the problems faced by them.
Badana said Khan promised them that the government would construct bunkers, but the work is yet to start. The government should provide at least three to four underground bunkers for residents in every panchayat halqa, he said, adding, “Either the government should construct a bunker in every house or build at least three to four in every panchayat halqa.”
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Another sarpanch, Abdul Hamid, said, “Our lives, livestock and property are always at risk. There are regular ceasefire violations in our area and either people or cattle get killed, or property is damaged.”
He said the government of India and Pakistan must revert to the ceasefire agreement along the LoC. “ In 2003, there was a ceasefire and we got a lot relief,’’ he said.
He said Karanah remains cut off from rest of the world in winter and the government must now act on their demand to construct a tunnel at Sadna Top to provide unhindered connectivity between Karnah and the rest of Kashmir.
