Over 14,000 bunkers to be built along Line of Control, International Border

For border residents facing Pakistani shelling in Jammu division, more than 14,000 community and individual bunkers would be constructed along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB), officials said on Sunday.

A total of 13,029 individual bunkers and 1431 community bunkers are being constructed, officials said.

The Centre had recently sanctioned the construction of 14,460 individual and community bunkers at a cost of Rs 415.73 crore for people living along the LoC and the IB in view of the loss of lives after increased cross-border shelling by Pakistan.

Thirty-five people, including 19 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four personnel of the Border Security Force, were killed in ceasefire violations by Pakistan last year alone. Also Read - J&K: As cross-border shelling increases, govt accelerates building of civilian bunkers

While 7298 bunkers will be constructed along the LoC in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri, 7162 underground bunkers will be constructed along the International Border in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts, officials said.

The capacity of a 160 square feet individual bunker was eight people, and that of the 800 square feet community bunker was 40 people, officials added.

Officials said 4918 individual and 372 community bunkers would be constructed in Rajouri, and 3076 individual and 243 community bunkers would come up in Kathua district.

A total of 688 community and 1320 individual bunkers would be constructed in Poonch, 1200 individual and 120 community bunkers in Jammu, and 2515 individual and eight community bunkers would be constructed in Samba district.

India shares a 3,323 km border with Pakistan, of which 221km of the IB and 740km of the LoC falls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior BJP leader and MP Jugal Kishore Sharma expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for acceding to the demands of people living in border villages. 

"It is indeed a matter of joy and satisfaction for the people of border villages that the Centre has sanctioned construction of bunkers and approved relief and compensation for various property and livestock losses due to cross-border firing," the senior BJP leader said.

(With inputs from PTI)