Most of the bunkers are filled with water
Spread out on the soggy ground near an Army post in Akhnoor, 80 km from Jammu, boots dot the landscape two at a time, waiting to be neutralised by the bright sunlight.
The army positions here are less than six kilometres from the Pakistan border. Many of the bunkers are filled completely with water. In others, where the water has begun draining out, a thick covering of mud and slush makes them unusable. Belts and the odd discarded shoe mark soldiers' discarded territory.
Soldiers here have been trying to protect their weapons, ammunition and rations. But the stand-out concern for the soldiers is the damaged fence that runs along the border with Pakistan. The nearly 1,700-kilometre-long Line of Control is one of the world's deadliest and most heavily militarised borders.
Five days of insidious rain have brought the worst floods in over half a century to Jammu and Kashmir. Lakhs of people remain stranded on roofs - in most cases, for the third day in a row - in Srinagar and the southern part of the state.
The Army, Air Force and Navy have forged a gigantic rescue operation with the federal National Disaster Relief Force to rescue nearly 50,000 people.
But this border outpost in Akhnoor shows just how much there is to be done. The Army must deliver relief to civilians, even while ensuring the border remains protected.
Parts of a rocket launcher lie on its side in the slush, a stark indicator of the military sensitivities of the region. The gaps in the fencing are what is being fixed first.
"The night is like a day for me," said Colonel Pradeep Semwal, Commanding Officer of the unit, indicating the frantic activity that goes on at night just to ensure no advantage is seized by terrorists across the border, waiting for an opportunity to sneak in. The Army has pulled out more or less the last bits of its reserve and is trying to plug these breaches in the fence.
"The damage is quite severe both in terms of fence and infrastructure. All our posts and infrastructure are damaged," Colonel Semwal added.
Just a short walk away, villagers are trying to take stock of what is left. Now that the waters have begun receding, it is time to measure the losses.
"Around 75% of our crops have been destroyed," says a farmer.