Gurez residents flee homes, huddle around bunkers

Bandipora, May 07: Several residents of Gurez Valley in north Kashmir's Bandipora district have fled their homes and are making their way towards the district headquarters in Bandipora division.

Notably, the Gurez Valley lies in close proximity to the Line of Control and has borne the brunt of border skirmishes between India and Pakistan in the past.

Abdul Raheem Lone, a local from centrally located Dawar in Gurez and former head of the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI), told Greater Kashmir over the phone that nearly fourty families in his area had fled Gurez.

“Mine and a few other families have stayed back, and almost fourty families left early in the morning towards Bandipora,” he said.

He added that soon after news flashed early Wednesday about India’s targeted attacks inside Pakistan, residents left their homes and huddled around community bunkers.

“There is a lot of fear here,” he added.

Notably, Raheem had shared similar concerns prior to the attack amid rising tensions, saying, “It is a triple whammy for us,” suggesting the loss of tourism, threats of lives being lost in case of escalating confrontation, and locals who had migrated and returned to the Valley facing an uncertain future yet again.

He shared that fears had more than doubled amid the Indus Water Treaty’s abeyance, as part of one of the important Kishanganga power projects is located in the valley, including the dam site.

The SDM Gurez said the road to Bandipora is open and "whosoever is willing to move is free to do so."

Notably, a majority of the Gurez population also migrates to Bandipora, Srinagar, Kangan and other areas in winter and have rentals or houses in these areas too.

He also said that community bunkers are open and people who feel “unsafe” are voluntarily moving into them.

So far, he said, “The situation is in control.”