Jammu Border Village: Govt’s Promises Unfulfilled, Villagers Feel Misled

Jammu: In May 2018, when Jagmohan (45), a labourer from Jammu, stepped outside his house to buy bread and bidi (tobacco), his wife, Manju Devi, had no idea that this was the last time she was seeing her husband. A mortar exploded on the road, injuring Jagmohan and another civilian Sat Paul (60).

Holding a photograph of her husband, teary-eyed Manju sits on the charpoy recalling the day that changed her life. “The shelling had started on May 13, and stopped at 7.30 on May 14. That is when my husband decided to buy some eatables. He speculated that the shelling can resume anytime soon, and you never know how long we will have to stay inside. But as soon as he got out, the shelling resumed and a shell hit him,” recalls Manju who lives in Treva village of Arnia sector, RS Pura, which is 19 km away from Jammu city.

Jagmohan and Paul were rushed to the nearest hospital in Arnia sector, five kilometre away from the village, which was already teeming with civilians injured due to shelling. The family was directed to the hospital in Jammu. On their way to Jammu, the two injured civilians lost their lives. The incident shook the entire village, and remains one of the horrific episodes that the villagers of Treva have been facing for years. The episode also underlined the sad state of the village which is reeling under scarcity of hospitals, doctors, medicines. Treva, home to nearly 5,000 people, has one dispensary, battered with splinter marks, with no doctors and medicines. “The sad part is that we can save people, but because of no hospitals and medical facility, we become vulnerable. If you will go around, you will look at the state of the houses, animals and people in the village. People who get injured, go to Arnia which is five km away, and most of the time, they recommend us to a hospital in Jammu which 10 km away. In between, the injured loses his life,” said Balveer Kaur, the first independent woman Sarpanch of the village.

If one goes around the village, broken windows, injured animals, splinter marks on the walls and damaged houses is the usual sight that one would encounter. Half of the population in the village comprises farmers – whose farms are damaged due to shelling – and rest are daily labourers. In 2017, the central government had given a nod for building community and individual bunkers along the Line of Control and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP had said that “the party was committed to deliver the promises made to the residents of border areas”. The state unit spokesman Anil Gupta had said, “The BJP welcomes the government’s decision to construct 4,700 community and 19,000 individual bunkers.” But the villagers from Treva village and Arnia feel that they have been misled by the BJP government.

Speaking to Newsclick, Sukbir, a labourer, said, “I voted for BJP, and I regret doing that. Look at the state of the bunkers. A community bunker has been built 100 meters away from my house. Ghar se yahan bunker takk aane mei aadmi raaste mei hii udd jayega. Bad mei khenge ki shell se udd gya mar gaya. Btaiye Kya suvidha hai? Bas jhumla hai (On the way from my home to this bunker, a person will get killed by a shell. What kind of facility is this? It’s an electoral bait).” In the 5,000-strong Treva village, there are only 5-7 bunkers. The BJP spokesman Gupta had said, “Proposed bunkers will be underground living units with cooking and toilet facilities.” Newsclick travelled to border villages to take a close look at the state of bunkers and villagers. In community bunkers, there was no toilet and kitchen, but just a cubicle which could shelter two to three people. Same was with the individual bunkers, a square room which could house one individual with no ventilation and other facilities.

“Look at the state of bunkers. The people will die due to suffocation. There are only 5-7 bunkers in this village which are not fully ventilated. Once shelling starts, it goes on for days. A person might take eatables along, but what about the toilet facility?” questioned Kaur. A few of the bunkers had no mounty (a kind of ledge), which means if the mortar falls, it will penetrate into the bunker, and will kill all the members living inside. Villagers say that since last four years, the bunkers are under construction, and yet, only five bunkers have been built. “How much time does it take to build an underground bunker? Only 10 days. And such bunkers with no facility and ventilation should only take five days. There is a lot corruption too. We are told that an amount of Rs 2 lakh is put into building one bunker. Look at the bunker, do you think it’s worth Rs 2 lakh?” asked Kaur.

She added that she has been informed that the shelling will start in 3-4 days. Being a sarpanch, she has alerted villagers, who are now buying raw eatables for their stay in the bunkers. A few of them are readying to leave the village to settle at their relatives’ place for few days.