Kashmir gets 'smart' bunkers as tourism rebounds

In the wake of overwhelming tourist footfall in Kashmir, the administration is giving a tourism-friendly facelift even to the security grid by introducing smart bunkers, which look like huts but are robust like forts to combat terror in the Union Territory.

For the first time in the last over thirty years of armed conflict, the government has come with the replacement of sandbag bunkers with the hut-like structures made of steel. In the first phase such bunkers are being installed along the high security Srinagar Airport Road and the Boulevard on the banks of Dal Lake.

Official sources said as a part of a multi-crore expenditure to upgrade the Jammu and Kashmir police's security infrastructure, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has given a go ahead for the tourism friendly bunkers made in a mix of wooden interiors, steel-sheet exteriors and bulletproof window panes.

Around a dozen such bunkers have already been constructed at various places in the city.

“Terror activities have increased in Kashmir and especially in Srinagar city in recent months and security infrastructure has to be upgraded. But at the same time security agencies don’t want to spoil the beauty of the city by coming up with ugly bunkers. Due to this reason, the smart bunkers are coming up in Srinagar,” a senior police officer told DH.

In 1990’s and early 2000’s huge bunkers made up of sand bags dotted Kashmir’s landscape when the militancy was at its peak. However, with the improvement in the situation these bunkers were removed from most of the places from 2005 onwards.

New security bunkers started to come up across Kashmir since the February 14, 2019 fidayeen attack on a CRPF convoy in southern Pulwama district in which 40 paramilitary personnel were killed.

However, despite intermittent militancy incidents, the flow of domestic tourists to Kashmir this year has been huge. The heavy rush of tourists has made Srinagar airport one of the busiest airports in the country which has been handling flights and passengers over its capacity.

J&K government has started to promote eco-tourism by approving the development of seven new trekking routes in various wildlife protected areas of the UT. The government has also approved the use of the infrastructure of the wildlife and tourism department including rest houses and inspection huts to tourists and wildlife enthusiasts.