Mohammad Naseem has been living in a government building in Salamabad in Uri since his house was destroyed in Pakistani shelling during Operation Sindoor last year.
A resident of Kalgi Ramgi, a village near the Line of Control (LoC), Naseem fled along with fellow villagers after Pakistan resorted to heavy artillery shelling during the operation. Three members of his family were injured in the shelling.
Operation Sindoor was launched by India on May 7 following the killing of 26 people, most of whom were tourists, in a militant attack in Pahalgam in south Kashmir. The operation triggered heightened military tensions and heavy cross-border shelling along the LoC in several sectors of Jammu and Kashmir, including Uri, forcing hundreds of families to flee their homes.
Remains of bomb shells fired near residential areas in Uri during Operation Sindoor
While most families later returned to their villages, several, including Naseem’s, continued to stay in temporary accommodation as their houses were completely destroyed in the shelling.
“A year on, we are still living in accommodation provided by the government,” Naseem said.
He said both his house and a sheep farm were damaged in the shelling, and the government provided only ₹2 lakh in compensation.
“It is too little to rebuild our homes,” he said.
Mohammad Sidiq, another resident, said the compensation provided by the government was not even enough to clear the debris of their destroyed properties.
“A complete year has passed and we are still struggling to rebuild our lives and homes,” Sidiq said. “The assistance we received is far too little for families who lost everything in the shelling.”
No safe haven
Residents said the lack of adequate protective bunkers in the area remained a major concern. Kalgi Ramgi, with a population of around 2,200, has only two to three bunkers, they said.
“They were constructed by private individuals,” another resident said.
In nearby Charunda village, which has a population of around 2,450 and lies close to the zero line, residents said there were only five community bunkers.
Lal Hussain Kohli, a social worker from the village, said the construction of more bunkers had long been a key demand of border residents, who rely on them for safety during cross-LoC shelling.
Last year, the government informed the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly that only 40 of the 202 bunkers approved for construction in Uri constituency of Baramulla district had been completed.
A senior official, however, said more than 500 bunkers had now been sanctioned for Uri by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department, and construction was expected to begin soon.
For many families displaced by the shelling, however, the promise of new bunkers and compensation offers little immediate relief as they continue to wait for permanent rehabilitation nearly a year after the conflict.
Published on May 7, 2026