Landmines wreck lives in Rajasthan border villages
Rajan Mahan
Thursday, October 31, 2002 (Ganganagar):
Ever since the armed forces were ordered to demobilise
in mid-October, strategic experts have been debating over the gains
and losses of keeping troops at the border for ten months.
But human costs to border residents have been largely
ignored despite the fact that landmines laid in countless fields have
claimed the lives, livelihood and limbs of hundreds of people in the
border villages of Rajasthan.
Naina Devi's life took a drastic turn six months ago when her only son,
30-year-old Hansraj, died in a landmine explosion while he was trying
to save their cattle from straying into a field mined by the army.
The Army had laid mines in fields along the international border during
the tension with Pakistan after the terrorist attack on Parliament.
Since then, feeding the three children and widow of their son is a nightmare
- as mines still remain in the six bighas of land they own.
"We are very unhappy. He was the only earning member of our family.
Now we do not know how to get food or clothes. You can imagine how tough
it will be for our kids in the future," says Naina Devi.
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Like the families of 60 other people who have died in landmine explosions
in Rajasthan since last December, Hansraj's family was given a compensation
of only Rs 10,000.
Two hundred people who were crippled in landmine blasts
in the state have received only Rs 5,000 as compensation.
And now many people in the border areas have to face the nightmarish
prospect of being suddenly disabled in their youth.
"These were the years when I should have been earning, but now
I have been crippled and am facing a terrible time. I cannot walk so
how will I earn? How will I look after my parents and children,"
says Dileep Chand, a 32-year-old mine victim of Daulatpura village in
Ganganagar district.
Hundreds of cattle have also been killed or injured in mine accidents.
Border residents now want the Army to plough their
fields once it completes de-mining.
"Once meetings for the demining exercises are
held, we will definitely raise the issue of how people can be assured
that their fields will really become safe again. We will have to find
some way to solve this crisis as it affects all our border villages,"
says UN Sahu, superintendent of police, Ganganagar.
The prospect of mines being finally removed is a big relief to the Rajasthan
villagers. But with little compensation or effort at rehabilitation
so far, ensuring a dignified and productive life for those whose lives
have been shattered by mine accidents is bound to be a tough challenge.
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