Border areas to get 600 family bunkers, siren system: Jitendra

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday announced additional 600 family bunkers besides the existing over 2,000 and an automated centralised siren system for the border areas.

During a day-long tour of the International Border (IB), Singh held meetings with district administration officials, including Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Minhas, public representatives such as MLAs and DDC members, and engaged in an open interaction with border residents.

Over the past 6 to 7 years, more than 2,000 family bunkers have been constructed for those living in border regions, a necessity highlighted during the recent ‘Operation Sindoor’. Each bunker is equipped with essential amenities.

In response to public demand to have more of such bunkers, Jitendra Singh consulted the administration and immediately issued directions for construction of 600 additional family bunkers immediately and later on, if required, construction of more similar bunkers.

In response to another demand that quite often the information regarding the blackouts was obtained through social media because the siren was not audible enough, Jitendra Singh issued directions that modern technology should be used instead of manually operated sirens. For this purpose, he said, an automated centralised siren system will be installed which will be controlled from the district headquarter and whenever required, it will start operating spontaneously and siren will be blown out through local outlets at each of the border villages.

Additionally, Singh revealed that following the launch of Operation Sindoor, 39 medical ambulances were provided to district Kathua, considering the vulnerability of border residents. Two critical care ambulances were also made available at the Government Medical College in Kathua.

Singh emphasised these initiatives were made possible due to the Centre's prioritisation of border villages, which had been neglected for years. He noted that in the last decade, a high-quality road network has been established up to the zero line of the International Border, where no roads existed before 2014. Similarly, mobile towers have been installed in border villages over the past 7 to 8 years to ensure that children and professionals have access to internet connectivity.

He commended the coordinated efforts of the district administration and civil society in addressing challenges posed by drone attacks from Pakistan, highlighting this as an example of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.

Jitendra Singh noted that one important highlight of the one week of turmoil in the region was that it gave us an opportunity to vindicate that whatever has been done in the last few years was for the benefit of the nation and the people, which includes construction of roads and mobile connectivity along the border areas.