J&K: Unable to rebuild rain-damaged house, Samba family living in undergound bunker

Samba/Jammu, Aug 11 (PTI) With guns falling silent along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir over the last two years, thousands of bunkers built for border residents were rendered useless. But for Samba resident Karnail Chand, one such structure has proved to be a blessing in disguise.

Sixty-three-year-old Chand, hailing from Nanga village near the International Border in Ramgarh sector, is using the 14x8x7 feet underground bunker as a shelter after his single-storey house collapsed over four years ago due to lack of maintenance owing to abject poverty.

The border villager used to work as a tailor and received most of the work from security camps. The trouble started when his wife Veena Devi fell seriously ill in 2018. And when she recovered after several months of treatment in Jammu, Chand himself suffered a paralytic attack which left him bedridden.

The couple’s son, their only child, works at a private factory and gets a meagre salary. With the family struggling to make ends meet, rebuilding their crumbled house is the last thing on their minds.

“We are living on the Zero Line (India-Pakistan border) and the government constructed this bunker for our safety during (cross-border) firing. Since we are going through a difficult phase, we are using it as our home,” Chand told PTI.

In December 2017, the centre sanctioned the construction of 14,460 individual and community bunkers for the border residents in the five districts of Jammu, Kathua and Samba covering the villages located along the IB and Poonch and Rajouri villages on the Line of Control (LoC).

Later, the government sanctioned over 4,000 bunkers to cover more vulnerable people.

On February 25, 2021, India and Pakistan announced the implementation of renewed ceasefire along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, which came as a major relief to the people living along the International border and the LoC.

“We are highly distressed and need help,” he said, demanding the construction of individual household toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission and the extension of benefits under Prime Minister Awas Yojna (PMAY).

He said the elected panchayat members have forwarded their papers many times in the last four years but every time their names could not find a place in the beneficiary list.

“The government has built toilets in the homes of many people but we did not even get the benefit of this scheme. We are facing a lot of problems,” he said.

Veena Devi said the family moved into the bunker in May 2019 otherwise they would have been on the road or living in a tent.

“Rains damaged our house as we could not repair it due to our poor financial condition. No government scheme has reached us so far,” she said.

Tarsem Lal, a neighbour of Chand, said the family is the “most deserving” to get benefits of government schemes.

“They can hardly afford two meals a day and cannot construct a toilet or a house. The government should come forward and help the family,” Lal, whose wife is a panch, said.

Referring to the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha-led administration’s approval of a proposal to allot 5 marla land each to landless families for the construction of houses under PMAY, he said they should also look into the cases of people like Chand.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner, Samba Abhishek Sharma said he will look into the matter of why government schemes were not implemented for the benefit of the family so far.

“A team of officers will be deputed to know the status of the case. If eligible, the family will be provided with all benefits under central and UT level schemes in accordance with the laid down norms,” he said.