Monday 15th Jun, 2026
Love’s labour lost: Villages on IB in Nowshera sector suffer due to poor infrastructure
Deeing village in Nowshera tehsil, J&K, May 1: Due to shelling, nobody wants to get his or her daughter married here, says Sarita Devi of Kalal village here.
This is also the plight of residents of Deeing, another border village.
People live in constant fear due to recurring ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
Eight weeks after Balakot surgical strikes by Indian Air Force on February 27 in a non-military, pre-emptive action against terrorist breeding camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, this is the scene at Nowshera tehsil of Rajouri district in J&K.
Inadequate number of bunkers and safe houses is a major concern here. The
Government has promised one bunker for each family but the pace of
construction is extremely slow, according to residents.
Scars of splinters on the walls of houses bear mute testimony to the damage caused by shelling.
” It is matter of chance that for the last three weeks, there is no shelling from the
Pakistani side in Deeing and Kalal,” Ms Reena Chaudhary, wife of Sarpanch
of Deeing village, Ramesh Chaudhary, told UNI.
”We have grown up in this fear and are used to it. Witnessing this shelling since childhood, we are a little scared as we do not adequate infrastructure like bunkers and safe houses,” said Reena, the mother of
a three-year-old girl child.
An eye for an eye
Satisfaction appeared on her face when she proudly averred that Indian Army
retaliates with full vigour and strength against ceasefire violations by neighbouring
hostile nation.
Infrastructural development of the border villages is far behind the peoples’
expectation. The Government has reaffirmed on many occasions that border
population is ”our first line of defence.” Ministry of Home Affairs has allocated
funds to the Jammu and Kashmir Government to provide ‘facilities’ needed for a
border populace but very little appeared on the ground across the most of the
villages on the International Border.
The number of safe houses or bunkers are very less compared to the population.
Government has promised that each family would be given a
separate bunker near their house but very little has been done, the
sarpanch lamented.
”I have been raising this issue with the district administration and a few new safe
houses are being constructed also but the numbers are inadequate,” said Mr Chaudhary.
Primary education suffers due to heavy shelling and children are unable to
attend classes. In mid-March,shelling started when the annual exam was being
conducted in these schools. Local villagers rescued the students. The remainder of the examination was conducted in another school which was far away from the border.
”The Government had assured that a five ‘marla’ (a local unit of measuring land)
land would be given some five km away from here for a new school with hostel
facilities would be constructed but nothing happen so far,” Mr
Chaudhry told UNI. Same scene Kalal has the same story.
This village is situated just 300 m
behind the Indian fencing and frequently witnesses damage due to
shelling from Pakistani side.
”The aerial distance of Pakistan is just one and half km from here. Adequate
number of bunkers or safe houses have not been built yet,” said Mohan Singh, a villager of Kalal.
Life is tough. They remain under constant fear. The village needs a lot
of other facilities like safe houses, proper education set up , health centres and
means of communication.
”When our children are outside home for school or college, located in Nowshera,
we remain under constant fear till they come back home safely. Cross firing and
shelling can start any time,” Mohan Singh said.
Once shelling starts, it continues for long, it may start anytime day or night, he
added.
Mohan Singh narrowly escaped splinters hit when he was caught in
shelling as he was bedridden and was recovering from an accident. His wife and
other members rescued him to a room from the front courtyard of his house.
No telecom towers
”There is no mobile network and our relatives staying in other parts of Jammu
and Kashmir are always worried for our well-being as we cannot speak to them
frequently. Talking to someone is only possible when we go back to Nowshera
side to access a mobile network,” Mohan Singh’s wife, Sarita Devi, lamented.
Mobile phone is a toy here. Only games can be played on it.”Our relatives staying in
other locality, hesitate to visit here due to fear of shelling or cross border
fire,” a second-year college student Gurdeep Singh said.
At least, the Government can provide basic landline phone facilities if they
do not want to erect tower owing to the fear that Pakistani will intercept calls,
he said.
”Nobody from outside wants to get his or her daughter married in these villages
and we do not get bride for our son or brother, so most of the marriages are
solemnised here within the village or nearby areas,” Ms Sarita Devi said.
There are instances when the shelling started during marriage functions, she added.
Agriculture and animal husbandry is the prime occupation here. Cattle heads
are often hit by shelling which is collateral damage to the farmers.
The Army also gives ad hoc employment to the local youths. They hire them as
porters to lift their ration and other materials to the forward locations but it is
not permanent.
”The Army normally gives us employment for 10 to 15 days and we are paid
Rs 700 per day. If employed for a month, we will get Rs 18,000,” a local porter Shyam Singh said.
The Sarpanch groused that the Army does not give
preference to local youths but hires porters from other villages
”The construction or works under central sponsored schemes like
Border Area Development Programme are sometimes executed in those
villages which are located far away from the border,” he complained.
Drinking water facility is not available here. Affluent farmers use water from
the hand-pumps or through boring. But many less well-off peasants are
dependent on natural water resources, including springs, which are not that hygienic.
” Sometimes the water is provided by the army. I have raised this issue with the
state administration but the plea has fallen on deaf ears,” Mr Chaudhary said.
UNI