Omar inspects lodging, food quality at shelter camps

The State Government has set up nearly 40 boarding and lodging shelter camps for the affected people

As thousands of civilians affected in shelling by Pakistani troops here thronged to safer shelter camps, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accompanied by his team went on to inspect the lodging facilities and quality of food provided to them.

The State Government has set up nearly 40 boarding and lodging shelter camps for affected people, who have deserted 113 hamlets in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, beside one cattle camp in Jammu.

Over 32,000 people have migrated from their homes along International Border (IB) due to mortar shelling and firing during past nine days in which eight people have been killed and nearly 90 injured including 13 securitymen.

The Chief Minister, who reached Jammu yesterday to meet the shelling-affected people, along with his team of officers inspected the facilities of boarding and lodging besides quality of food served in the camps, a senior government official said.

As Omar reached Kotha camp setup in Hiranagar belt along the IB in Kathua district, he went straight to the community kitchen to check the quality of food served to the migrants taking shelter there.

He asked one of the servers in the community kitchen to serve him the food prepared for campers and ate some Daal and other vegetables to check its quality.

Omar visited a chain of shelter camps and interacted with affected people, who raised demands of construction of bunkers, grants for plots at safer locations, setting up of bovine camps and grant for reservation for the IB people at par with LoC.

The Chief Minister directed his administration to address their demands but on the issue of plots, he asked campers to take up the issue at the 'right forums'.

"We are happy to see administration alive and active this time unlike in the past. Even the Chief Minister did the right thing by inspecting things himself," said Gajinder Singh, who is staying at Rehal camp here.

Dablehar camp dweller Kaku Ram said, "We were taken out in vehicles provided by government. We have been here for two days and they served us in best way possible. We are thankful. This type of arrangement was not seen during migrations in the past triggered by Pakistan firing".