Some 16 people died and over 44 were injured on 8 May in Poonch during the Pakistan-led drone and munitions attack. Poonch suffered heavy casualties as it’s on zero line (which is right on the border). There were deaths reported in Uri and Rajouri too.
Amidst all the assessment being done on the ground, there is an urgent need to increase the number of bunkers around these areas – most of which are on the zero line. “We were caught unawares when shelling began on 7 May,” Ajaz Ahmad Jan, MLA from Poonch, informed Business India. While 10 people died on the spot – including four children – six succumbed to their injuries after being hospitalised. Sikhs and Muslims too were amongst the victims here. However, had there been more bunkers, this toll would have been lower. I have raised this concern repeatedly during the assembly sessions”.
After the shelling on 7 May, nearly 90 per cent of the residents of Poonch have fled. After the ceasefire, they are returning to their homes. There are close to 480,000 people living in Poonch.
“Some of the six villages, which are right on the border, have insufficient bunkers, notwithstanding the fact that there is no dearth of funds,” Jan added. “Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been apprised of this and he has assured that this would be looked into”.
Poonch has experienced conflict in the past too, including during the 1999 Kargil War. This historical context highlights the region’s vulnerability to future attacks.
Thwarting terrorist plans
Earlier, right after the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack, a joint search operation by the Army, Jammu & Kashmir Police and Special Operations Group (SOG) recovered five IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), wireless sets and some clothes from the hideout. The ready-to-use IEDs, weighing between half-a-kg and five kg, were destroyed in a controlled explosion on the spot, thwarting terrorist plans to set off explosions in the border district.
Meanwhile, before Operation Sindoor was launched, a number of teams visited border villages to review the bunkers. The bunkers, popularly known as ‘Modi bunkers’, had been stacked with essentials like blankets and bedding, with villagers bracing for the worst.
‘Modi bunkers’ – as the underground bunkers are informally described – onstructed along the Line of Control (LoC) to protect civilians from cross border shelling. These bunkers, built in large numbers during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second tenure, were part of a major government initiative to enhance the safety of residents living near conflict-prone border areas.
In 2021, about 8,000 underground bunkers were built along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in Jammu province, officials said. The Centre had initially sanctioned 14,460 bunkers across five districts – Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Poonch, and Rajouri – with an additional 4,000 later approved to cover more vulnerable populations.