Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlindia



India <![CDATA[India is contaminated with mines, mainly as a result of mine-laying by government forces on and near the northwestern border with Pakistan during the 2000-2001 stand-off between the two countries. Antipersonnel and antivehicle mines were laid on cultivated land and pasture, and around infrastructure and a number of villages. India also contends with increased use of IEDs and mines by NSAGs in other parts of the country.

In its Amended Protocol II Article 13 report submitted in November 2005, India claimed that it had concluded mine clearance operations along its northern and western borders and all arable land had been cleared and returned to its owners, except land required "for operational purposes.” According to some reports, as much as 280km2 was mined along the LoC during Operation Parakram, which directly affected more than 6,000 families across 21 villages. Although substantial border areas have been returned to civilian owners, other sources say some sections of the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir remain heavily mined. The Uri sector of Baramulla district, for instance, is said to have remained mined and fenced along the LoC since 1990. In the Karna sector of Kupwara district, mines were laid through villages cut in half by the LoC. Kupwara district was heavily affected by the 8 October 2005 earthquake, and authorities are said to fear that mines planted in the area were displaced as a result.

Military authorities acknowledge that areas prone to infiltration by militants are still mined but say the areas are clearly marked. However, they also say heavy rainfall, snow, mudslides, and avalanches can cause mines to move. An army officer stated in April 2008 that demining was underway, and that most of the areas in Jammu and Kashmir have been demined and handed over to the farmers.

Minefields also reportedly remain from the 1962 war with China along the Tankso to Spangmik road in the vicinity of Pangong Tso Lake in the Himalayas. Mine contamination in Sikkim, a landlocked Indian state in the Himalayas, has been acknowledged by a government ministry for the first time: mines in remote areas were reported to have caused casualties among wildlife, including yak, Tibetan sheep, and Tibetan wolves.

Mines continue to cause casualties and prevent cultivation of large amounts of agricultural land; local inhabitants complain that mines also harm livestock. Unofficial estimates cited in the Indian media put the area still contaminated at 160km2 of Jammu and 1,730km2 of Kashmir. The speaker of Jammu and Kashmir's legislative assembly said that more than 6,000 families and some 3,500 acres (14.2km2) of agricultural land in his constituency alone are mine-affected.

In 2007, Landmine Monitor identified at least 170 new casualties of victim-activated explosive devices (41 people killed and 129 injured) based on analysis of English-language media reports and data provided by Indian civil society organizations. There were 89 civilian casualties and 81 military. Only eight of the casualties were children, but the age of 43 casualties was not reported. Most casualties (108) were male, 10 were female, and 52 were of unknown gender.

When media reported on the activity at the time of the incident, traveling on the road (38) was the most common activity, followed by "standing near" (18) and handling an explosive device (12). One casualty was reported as occurring while demining and 22 while engaged in explosive ordnance disposal. On 11 December, a member of the security forces was injured while trying to defuse a Claymore mine in Jharkhand province. On 8 February, five members of the security forces were killed and 12 injured while defusing an explosive device in a forest in Chhattisgarh; a civilian bystander was also killed. On 14 February, one soldier died and another was injured while defusing a mine, also in Chhattisgarh. On 14 August, one soldier was killed and two were injured while trying to defuse ERW in Jammu and Kashmir. Most casualties occurred in Jammu and Kashmir (47), followed by Manipur (41), and Chhattisgarh (36). The high casualty figure in Manipur is due to one incident on 26 December causing 32 casualties when a bus drove over a mine.

A Landmine Monitor field visit to Jammu and Kashmir in October-November 2007, noted that mines continue to pose a threat for civilians living near the LoC and that casualties continue to occur while people are carrying out livelihood activities, such as collecting firewood, shepherding and farming. While in some villages there have not been human casualties for several years, livestock losses continued. Indian mine survivors in refugee camps in Jammu and Kashmir also noted that they were injured while "finding militants for the Indian Army," while being forced to recover NSAG's weapons for the Indian Army, or while crossing the border into Jammu and Kashmir.

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