Punjab: Border villagers start moving to safer areas after Operation Sindoor

People in some border villages of Ferozepur district in Punjab began moving to safer areas amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan.

Other villagers near the International Border (IB) with Pakistan in Amritsar and Tarn Taran border districts, however, remained calm with people carrying on with routine work on Wednesday.

Indian armed forces early on Wednesday carried out on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke.

Villagers in Ferozepur said they have begun shifting their belongings despite no official evacuation orders from the Border Security Force, Indian Army or any government agency so far. They said the decision to move, especially women and children, was their own.

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 leaving.

Kakku Singh (63), a resident of Babmha Haji village in the Mamdot area, said that he had come to meet his two daughters who had been married in Kalu Wala. Notably, Kalu Wala village is surrounded by the Sutlej river from three sides and Pakistan on the fourth.

"When I heard the news about India's action in the morning, I was worried about my daughter and their families. Now I have come here not only to meet them but also ensure that they go to my village till the time the situation becomes normal," Kakku Singh said.

Pachho Bai (58) of Tendi Wala village, who had been packing the clothes along with her daughter-in-law, said that she is feeling concerned because their house is situated just 2 km from the IB. "We are six members in the family. My husband and my son have gone to work right now but we are planning to move soon to the house of some relative. This is why I am doing the packing work," she said.

Some villagers could be seen taking their belongings like beds, coolers, washing machines, fridge, food grain containers on tractor trolleys to their relatives.

However, there were many villagers who, despite the tense situation between the two neighbouring nations, were keeping their spirits high. Surjeet Singh from Tendi Wala village said he is proud of the Indian Army.

Ferozepur deputy commissioner Deepshikha Sharma on Wednesday said there was no reason for panic in the district as of now. She said neither the Army nor the district administration had issued any directive to evacuate border villages and assured that the entire administration was fully alert and prepared.

In border villages in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, people remained calm. Gurmeet Singh, a resident of the border village Chinna Bidhi Chand in Tarn Taran, said there was no panic in the village. Children were at their homes due to the school closure announced by the district administration.

❗️BREAKING: Pakistan Strikes School in Densely Populated Area of Kashmir's Poonch

10 civilians have been killed & 42 injured in the shelling - according to local police. pic.twitter.com/UjKpi1SICo

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) May 7, 2025

Sucha Singh, who lives in the border village Naushera Dhalla in Tarn Taran, said people were busy with their day-to-day work and farmers are in their fields. He said no government official had asked them to leave their homes or move to safer places.

Another villager in the border village in Tarn Taran district said no one asked them to leave home. "There is a peaceful situation in the village," said the villager.

Border villages of Attari, Mahawa, Pul Mohra and Bikhwind in Amritsar district also appeared calm. At Attari, a villager said they were getting calls from relatives from other places to know about the situation. The situation was peaceful and they were not scared at all, he said.

However, farmers who have agricultural land beyond the barbed fencing were not allowed to go to their fields as gates remained shut at all the Indo-Pakistan border points in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.

Amritsar international airport has been closed and the director of the airport communicated in writing that all commercial, civil domestic and international flight operations are suspended until 5.30 am on 10 May.

All educational institutions remained shut on the order of the deputy commissioner in Amritsar. Meanwhile, people queued up at some fuel pumps to refuel their vehicles.

The Indian military strikes, codenamed Operation Sindoor, were conducted early on Wednesday two weeks after 25 Indians and a Nepalese citizen, mostly tourists, were killed in a terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, which India has stated was orchestrated by The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the Pakistan-backed terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.