600 new family bunkers, centralised siren system to come up in J&K’s border areas

JAMMU: In the past six-seven years, over 2,000 family bunkers were built for residents of border areas in J&K, the utility of which was realised during the recent Operation Sindoor, said union minister Dr Jitendra Singh during a day-long visit to areas along the international border on Tuesday. He also announced that an additional 600 bunkers would be constructed and an automated, centralised siren system will be set up in border areas.

Dr Singh said Kathua was the first district in the country to experiment with family bunkers in border areas when he, as an MP, had taken up the issue soon after Narendra Modi took over as prime minister. Thereafter, more than 2,000 such bunkers came up in the border areas.

Following the public demand for more bunkers, Dr Singh said he consulted the administration and immediately issued directions for the construction of 600 additional family bunkers and more later, if needed.

In response to citizens’ complaints that the siren was not audible enough, Dr Singh said he directed the use of modern technology instead of manually operated sirens. “An automated, centralised siren system would be installed, which will be controlled from the district headquarters. It will start operating spontaneously, and the siren will be sounded through speakers set up at each border village,” he said.

After Operation Sindoor was launched, Kathua district was provided with 39 medical ambulances for the convenience of border dwellers, while two more critical care ambulances were made available at GMC Kathua.

During his visit, Dr Singh held a series of meetings with officials of the district administration, led by deputy commissioner Rakesh Minhas, and attended by public representatives including MLAs and DDC members. The minister subsequently met residents of border villages before heading to Jammu GMCH to inquire about the patients injured in Pakistani shelling.