Rs 10k for 25L loss: J&K border villagers hit by Pak shelling say govt compensation is not enough
Srinagar: Amid mounting losses from cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir, residents of Kupwara, Baramulla, and Poonch districts have expressed deep dissatisfaction over the government’s compensation, describing it as grossly insufficient despite massive destruction of their houses.
“My house was completely damaged in the Pakistani shelling. I spent Rs 15,000 to clear the debris, but surprisingly, the government gave me only Rs 10,000 as compensation,” Mohammad Maqbool Khan, a resident of Sonora, close to the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express on Tuesday.
Khan estimated his total losses at Rs 25 to 30 lakh and said senior civil and police officials had visited the village to assess the damage. Despite this, Khan remained stunned by the meagre relief provided by the authorities.
More than hundred houses and structures were reportedly damaged in mortar and artillery shelling by Pakistani troops in the border areas of Tangdhar and Karnah in Kupwara district, and Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In Uri’s Parampilla village, close to the LoC, the house of Syed Mustafa’s sister sustained severe damage, with shattered windows, broken doors, cracked walls, and destroyed household items. Mustafa estimates losses running into several lakhs of rupees but said the government has disbursed only Rs 6,500 as compensation, a sum he deemed inadequate, the report added.
Similarly, in the neighbouring Salambad village of Uri, three houses were fully damaged and three others partially affected in Pakistani shelling. Among the worst hit were the homes of brothers Talib Hussain and Mohammad Younis, sons of Sultan Niak, which were declared unsafe to live in. Abdul Rashid Awan, former sarpanch of the village, highlighted the high costs of construction materials and labour locally, estimating that building a two-storey house costs between Rs 35 and 40 lakh.
The government has compensated the two brothers Rs 1.3 lakh each, while damage assessments continue for other affected residents. “The families had spent their whole life’s earnings in the construction of the houses, and now they are being offered Rs 1.3 lakh to rebuild the homes. Is it possible to construct a house in that amount,” TNIE quoted Awan as saying.
The situation is no different in Poonch, where Mehtab Din Sheikh’s house in Dongas was severely damaged in cross-border shelling on May 7. Sheikh estimated his losses at Rs 15 lakh but said the Rs 1.3 lakh compensation he received was insufficient even for minor repairs, let alone rebuilding the house.
Border residents whose homes were damaged in the shelling have urged the administration to provide adequate compensation to facilitate reconstruction. In addition to residential damage, at least 31 schools have been affected by Pakistani shelling in Poonch and Rajouri districts.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
