Jammu, November 6
The victims of the killer earthquake in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) will not be allowed to cross the Line of Control (LoC) tomorrow to reach the relief camp established by the Indian Army at Chakan-da-Bagh in Poonch but the relief material would be handed over to the Pakistani authorities for being distributed to the affected people.
It was initially believed that the victims would be allowed to cross the relief points and also meet their relatives on this side of the LoC.
However, it is learnt that initially there was no move to allow the divided families on both sides of the LoC to come to the crossing points and share their sorrows.
The victims of the quake in PoK are looking towards the Indian army for relief as the only crossing point on the LoC at Chakan-da-Bagh is being thrown open tomorrow.
They are looking towards the Indian army for succour as neither the Pakistani army and nor the civil authorities have taken care of them in the past 30 days after the earthquake turned their houses into rubble and claimed scores of lives.
The Indian army has provided essential commodities, including rations, medicines and tents, to the relief camp for handing these over to the Pakistani troops. It is learnt that personnel of the Red Cross will also be present at the crossing point.
The relief operations of the Pakistani authorities have more or less remained confined to the capital town of Muzaffarabad or areas around. The UN has come out with planeloads of relief material for the PoK, whereas no such help has came from the international body for the victims on this side of the LoC.
The victims in PoK at many places were living in the open without any tents and were occasionally being supplied eatables by the Pakistani army. They were now facing another ordeal because of the unbearable cold as the mercury has started dipping by the day. A number of cases of pneumonia have been reported on the other side of the LoC.
The Indian army has set up a hospital with specialised services just near the crossing point where the victims from Pakistan would be provided treatment. However, with restrictions having been imposed by the Pakistani authorities on movement along the LoC, it would not be possible for the victims to come close to the relief camps.
Relief material has been stacked in abundance for the victims on the other side. Camps have been set up exclusively for residents of the PoK and the locals of the Poonch area will be kept away as the army has
already provided sufficient relief to them.Top officers of the army and civil administration visited the camp today to make last-minute inspection of the facilities being made available there. This is for the first time in the last 58 years after partition of the country that such crossing points on the LoC have been established to provide relief to victims of a natural calamity.
Otherwise, the Indian positions and civil population on this side of the LoC were pounded till the past few months by the Pakistani troops. The Poonch and Uri towns and areas of Tangdhar were under the constant attack of the Pakistani troops. The other two crossing points on the LoC at Kaman in Uri and Teetwal in Tangdhar will be opened on November 9 and 10, respectively.
The victims have appreciated the relief operations undertaken by the army and the IAF, particularly in the Kashmir valley. The people were not satisfied with work being done by the civil authorities.
This is perhaps for the first time that the Indian army is being seen as a friend by the people in the Kashmir valley. Troops fanned out in the earthquake-hit areas of the valley for rescue and relief operations. A number of shelters, hospitals and schools have been rebuilt by the troops for the victims of the quake.
