Death stares at this Bathinda village from two sides

Phoos Mandi Sarpanch Lakhwinder Singh said: “A few years ago,a number of houses had developed cracks,roofs had been damaged and windowpanes broken when some ammunition was destroyed by the Army. This despite the fact that it was a controlled exercise. One can well imagine that a similar mishap can wreak havoc in the village.”

“I remember that cotton stalk stacked in the village had once caught fire. In no time,almost half of the villagers left for safer places,” said Jaspreet Singh,another villager.

“This looks like some village on the Indo-Pak border,” said an elderly member of the village,Hazoora Singh. Sitting with his companions Harbans Singh and Nachhattar Singh,Hazoora recalled how the village became a “dangerous zone” after the ammunition and oil depots came up in the area many years ago.

“Location wise,it would not be an exaggeration to call Phoos Mandi the worst village to live in among all villages of Bathinda,” said villager Raghwinder Singh.

The Army and oil companies are well aware of the gravity of the situation and keep on issuing advisories to the villagers to avert any untoward incident. With strict restrictions in place under the given scenario,celebrating festivals like Diwali in Phoos Mandi are a big no. “The farmers are not allowed to even irrigate their fields during the night due to their fields being near the ammunition depot. New constructions are not allowed,” said the sarpanch.

The fallout: There is a huge disparity between land prices in Phoos Mandi and areas located barely a couple of kilometres away,but on a comparatively safer zone. “As compared to nearby Jassi Pau Wali,land prices here are 70 to 80 percent less. Even at this price,no one is willing to buy land in our village,” the sarpanch added.