MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Monday said his government had prepared a plan for evacuation of civilian population from the highly vulnerable areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in case of emergency.

“An anticipated evacuation plan has been worked out. This includes identifying places and buildings where we will rehabilitate displaced persons,” he told a group of senior correspondents after undertaking an extensive visit to several affected areas along the LoC.

The AJK premier said that some 103,000 people lived in 219 villages and hamlets within the 500-metre radius of the LoC and were thus vulnerable even to enemy’s small arms fire.

Another 190,000 and 316,000 people lived within the two and five-kilometre radius of the LoC, respectively, he added.

“These people are facing several problems, resolution of which is the foremost responsibility of the governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad,” he said.

He said since constant Indian shelling had divested most of the LoC residents of their livelihood, provision of national heath cards and Benazir Income Support Programme package to each family living within 5 kilometres radius was therefore imperative.

He said his government had sent a comprehensive package to the federal government for rehabilitation of LoC residents through the ministry of Kashmir affairs and the federal minister for Kashmir affairs had also agreed to the proposals.

“When we want people to stay in their homes we ought to take each possible step to facilitate and protect them,” he said.

In reply to a question, Mr Haider said the AJK government was giving Rs300,000 to the heirs of each deceased, but former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had announced, during a visit to the LoC in Nov 2017, to enhance it to one million rupees.

Recently, Federal Finance Minister Asad Umar had also agreed to it before him, but the AJK government was yet to receive the amount, he said.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019