Bunkers For 17 Lakh Jammu Residents? Army Veteran On Whether Omar Abdullah Can Replicate Ukraine Plan in J&K
Last week, Jammu city witnessed Pakistani shells landing in some residential areas, with at least one person losing his life and several others getting injured.
Published : May 13, 2025 at 3:32 PM IST
By Amir Tantray
Jammu: Does Jammu city need bunkers to safeguard the residents from Pakistani shelling on the pattern of how it is being done in several cities of Ukraine? Until a fortnight ago, this question would have been termed preposterous, but with India and Pakistan coming close to a full-blown war in a matter of days and the wreckage of Pakistani projectiles falling in several areas of the city, the need for such fortifications is being felt.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was the first to talk about it during his interaction with people of shelling-affected areas of Poonch on Monday. “For the first time, even the old quarters of Jammu have been affected. We are now forced to contemplate building bunkers in the city—something previously unimaginable,” Abdullah said.
So far, only areas falling on the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) felt the need to construct bunkers, and at many places, all along the IB in Jammu frontiers and LoC, either the administration has constructed bunkers or residents themselves have built ones, considering the perpetual threat of shells landing on their houses.
But this time, Jammu city witnessed Pakistani shells landing in some residential areas, with at least one person losing his life and several others getting injured. The use of drones to target military installations in and around Jammu city made life more difficult for people, and many scrambled for safer places.
On May 10 morning, areas like Rehari, Bantalab, Roop Nagar and Bakshi Nagar of Jammu city witnessed loud explosions which resulted in damage to properties and splinters hitting the people sleeping inside their homes.
As the two countries agreed to silence the guns, Abdullah spoke about the need for bunkers in Jammu city as well. But the question is whether Jammu city has the choice of constructing bunkers to accommodate people during any such future exigency.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, a security expert, Brigadier (Retd.) Prem Sagar Deman welcomed the Chief Minister’s statement of constructing bunkers, but at the same time questioned the practical aspect of the proposal.
“If Omar Abdullah is saying that he wants to construct it, I will not negate it, provided he has money. Secondly, we will have to do a tedious town planning exercise on how many and where to construct these bunkers. In rural areas, the population is smaller and land is available, which is not the case in the city. If Omar is saying it, he is ready to give the money, and somebody is going to plan like what is happening in Ukraine, it is a welcome step,” Brigadier (Retd.) Deman said.
In Ukraine, authorities, according to reports from Kyiv and other cities in the country, are actively building new underground shelters, including schools and hospitals, to protect people from Russian shelling.
The Army veteran, however, says doing something similar in a heavily populated city like Jammu was a difficult proposition, where the current projected population is more than 17 lakh.
"If it is a measure of safety, why not? But we need to plan it accordingly. In a village with a population of 400 to 500, you can construct four to five big bunkers where people can be adjusted and they know each other very well. In the city, two people can’t stand each other. Still, it is a welcome statement, but we will have to see whether it is feasible,” he added.
The Army veteran said it was unlikely that Pakistan would target civilian areas, especially those in the city, in future. "Though we had an attack on four places in the city on the morning of May 10, I will say this thing will not be repeated, as Pakistan can’t be expected to be too naïve to attack civilian areas. The attack, which occurred here, was aimed at Nagrota Corps headquarters, where weapons are deployed. They tried to fight them out as they have ranges up to 2.5 to 3 km, and if you see the curve, Roop Nagar and adjoining areas come into that range. That is what was probably shot down, and the wreckage fell.”
“In the 1965 and 1971 wars, I have seen people digging trenches in the open area, and after hearing sirens, you come out of your houses and go into the trenches. Mostly, you require bunkers on LoC and IB where people have to remain in the bunkers throughout the night during shelling, which is not the case here, even though Jammu is within the artillery shelling range,” the security expert said.
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