A bunker near the Line of Control in the Akhnoor subdivision of Jammu. Tribune Photo

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 21

The recent displacement of border inhabitants from the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district has once again exposed the casual approach being adopted by the PDP-BJP government in constructing concrete community bunkers for which the amount has been sanctioned by the Central government.Official sources said that in December 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sanctioned Rs 3 crore for 60 bunkers on the borders for civilians as a pilot project.“Out of the 60 sanctioned bunkers, only 35 have been constructed so far. Each bunker can accommodate 20 persons during emergency. The state government, however, has failed to utilise the funds sanctioned for 60 bunkers,” a source said, adding that the work on the remaining 25 is yet to be started or is going on at a snail’s pace.Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had admitted on the floor of the Assembly on January 23 this year that just 35 bunkers had been constructed under the Border Action Development Programme (BADP) in the border areas of Jammu district.The sources said that in 2015, the state government had made a proposal to the MHA for constructing 20,125 community-type bunkers along the Line of Control and International Border for the safety of residents living in border areas of J&K. Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri and Kupwara districts were selected for these bunkers. The total cost of the project was Rs 1,000 crore.The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in its 203rd report, which was laid before the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on April 11 this year, has also flayed the state government for adopting delay tactics in constructing bunkers. The committee is headed by former Home Minister P Chidambaram.Though Minister for Rural Development Department (RDD) Abdul Haq Khan did not respond to repeated phone calls, Minister of State for RDD Sunil Sharma, who belongs to the BJP, said he would look into the matter. “I will check who is responsible for adopting a casual approach towards constructing bunkers in border areas,” Sharma told The Tribune.House panel slams sluggish approachThe Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in a report presented before the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in April 11 this year stated: “The committee is anguished to note the sluggish progress of the project to construct bunds, metalled roads and bunkers along the fence in the Jammu sector. The committee feels that lack of adequate all-weather connectivity in border areas will keep the border in Jammu region vulnerable to external threats like infiltration. The committee, therefore, recommends that the ministry should fast-track the project to construct roads, bunds and bunkers along the fence and start the construction work at the earliest”.