ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Empty coffers will stall Kargil relocation

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir Public Works Minister Qamir Ali Akhoon is a worried man today. On him rests an overpowering assignment -- that of shifting the township of Kargil, away from the reach of Pakistani shells.

Himself a resident of the troubled town, which has been witnessing heavy trans-border shelling in the past few months, Akhoon's prayer these days is that the shelling would cease for good.

"There would be no need to shift the town if the firing stops," he says, "Otherwise there is no choice."

The minister considers Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah's decision to shift the town to a safer location as highly ambitious.

"The proposal involves a huge expenditure," he said, "We shall have to shift the residents as well as the district headquarters."

Kargil, besides being a strategically important township that forms the doorway to the Ladakh region, is also a district headquarters. Following constant tension because of escalated border violence between Indian and Pakistani troops, the local population is highly insecure. Hoteliers, businessmen and real estate owners all feel their life's labour is lost.

However, considering the tremendous financial constraints that the state is presently under, it is highly improbable that any headway can be made towards relocation in the immediate future. As of now, the state exchequer finds it difficult to meet even the salaries of its employees.

Dr Abdullah's proposal is yet to be passed by the state cabinet.

Akhoon, for his part, feels the exercise will have to wait for the New Year. The site is a little-known village, Minge, located 22 kilometres south of Kargil, in Sanku block.

The state government envisages a ground-level interaction with the locals to educate them about scientific methods of migration.

The tension in Kargil, meanwhile, continues unabated. The past few days respite from shelling, the locals feels, is deceptive.

"All our hard work is lost," says Iqbal Wani, who works in the State Bank of India and whose family also owns Kargil's biggest hotel, Nunkhun, "We have invested every penny we had in building the hotel and improving its facilities. Now we are told that we shall be moved out lock, stock and barrel. Why cannot serious efforts be made to make Kargil town secure?"

Businessman Mohammad Hussain, however, is completely in agreement with the chief minister's scheme. "No doubt it would add to our problems. But when lives are at risk, it is better to leave," he told this correspondent in Srinagar.

Akhoon says that nearly Rs 50 million is needed immediately to build some 1,700 bomb shelter for the residents. The 500 shelters that the town already has are not enough. The state government has released Rs 10 million to the district administration. The remaining Rs 40 million would be released shortly, the minister said.

Akhoon, who won the assembly election from Kargil with a huge margin, said Rs 22,000 is required for building a bomb shelter.

Tell us what you think of this report