Army hands over land to villagers in Jammu and Kashmir
By IANSWednesday, February 17, 2010
JAMMU - The Indian Army has handed over more than 89 acres of land to villagers in a border belt of Jammu and Kashmir after clearing the area of landmines.
The landmines were laid in 2001-02, during heightened India-Pakistan tension following the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament Dec 13, 2001.
The army had started demining the area near Akhnoor, about 35 km north of Jammu, along the international border two months ago. The landmines were completely cleared last week.
On Tuesday evening, the army handed over the land to the villagers through Deputy Commissioner (Jammu) M.K. Dwivedi in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand.
“It’s a great moment for the people of the border area, especially farmers whose land had become unusable because of the mining. Now they can again tend their fields,” Tara Chand told IANS.
The villagers had been scared to venture into the area because of the landmines, which often exploded — killing or maiming them.
“During ‘Operation Parakram’ (2001-02), the army had laid mines to check the advance of the enemy (Pakistan),” an army spokesman said.
“Now , when the situation has improved, the mines have been removed and the land has been given back to the villagers.”
