Amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan, people in some border villages of Punjab have started moving to safer places.

Villagers in Ferozepur district began shifting their belongings even though the Border Security Force, Indian Army, or any government agency has not issued any official evacuation orders yet.

Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner Deepshikha Sharma on Wednesday said that there is no reason for panic in the district, as yet, and neither the army nor the district administration has issued any directive to evacuate border villages.

Tendi Wala, Kalu Wala, Gatti Rajo Ke, Jhugge Hazara, Navi Gatti Rajo Ke, Gatti Rahime Ke, Chandiwala, Basti Bhanewali, Jallo Ke were among the villages from where people were moving to safer areas.

However, in the border villages of Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, there was no rush to move to a safer place.

What villagers say

Villagers said the decision to move, especially women and children, was their own, according to a report by news agency PTI.

Kakku Singh, 63, a native of the Babmha Haji village in the Mamdot area, told PTI that he had come to meet his two daughters who had been married in Kalu Wala – a village surrounded by the Sutlej river from three sides and Pakistan on the fourth.

He wants his daughters and their families to move to his village till the situation becomes normal.

Pachho Bai, 58, from Tendi Wala village, who was seen packing the clothes along with her daughter-in-law, said that she felt concerned because their house is situated just 2 km away from the International Border (IB).

“We are six members in the family. My husband and my son are away at work but we are planning to move soon to the house of a relative,” she said.

Bulk buying of grocery items

Meanwhile, several people in Amritsar and Batala districts resorted to panic buying of grocery items such as pulses, cooking oil, wheat flour, sugar, and salt.

People were seen queuing up at departmental stores and grocery shops for bulk buying.

Indian armed forces early Wednesday launched missile strikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on nine terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke.

Former Punjab chief minister and BJP leader Amarinder Singh hailed the Indian strikes on terror camps.

“The country had made it categorically clear that it will not let those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack go unpunished,” he said in a statement.

“They have been punished as has been admitted by the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, who though escaped himself, lost several members of his family,” he said.