The two-month battle, which ended in early July, forced thousands to flee their homes and severely disrupted the summer harvest crucial to surviving the harsh winter high in the Himalayan foothills.
Most returned to their homes, only to find them damaged by artillery shells, their cattle dead and their crops badly degraded.
"We had left everything behind when we fled for our lives as the fighting intensified," said Siraj-u-Din, a 50-year-old farmer from Mushko village, eight kilometers (five miles) east of the town of Drass.
"When we returned, we found we had lost almost everything," Din said. "The war has ruined us and now we are struggling to survive."
There is resentment here at a perceived lack of concern among the Indian authorities over the villagers' plight.
During last year's fighting, thousands of troops were deployed in the Drass sector of Kargil, which became a major artillery base and platform for ground attacks.
The troops set up makeshift camps in the fields, which were also dug up to make room for artillery batteries. "We lost nearly all our livestock and crops," said Mushko village head Mohammad Jamal. "So far, we have received no real compensation."
Ghulam Jaffar, in nearby Moradbagh village, complained that he could not even return to his damaged land, as it was still being occupied by army troops. "We do not want compensation for our land," said Jaffar. "We just want the land itself so that we can get things going again. "Given the lack of any government help, we are trying to help each other."
Although the fighting ended in July, most Drass residents only came back to their homes in October, by which time most of the summer period for harvesting and storing food for the winter had been lost.
Kargil is virtually cut off for six months of every year by heavy snows and sub-zero temperatures that make most roads impassable.
The stepped up Indian military presence in Kargil has offered new sources of income, but Muslim locals said the army often seemed to mistrust using their services as porters. "The army prefers to hire Hindu laborers from Nepal and Bihar state," said villager Ghulam Ali.
Amid the complaints, there is also relief that the strong army presence in Kargil has prevented any repetition of last summer's conflict, triggered by Pakistan-backed forces that crossed the disputed Kashmir border and occupied strategic heights on the Indian side.
"Although the army's presence has hampered our free movement, we do believe they will prevent future incursions in the area," said villager Rehmat Ali.
The Kashmir government had offered 17,000 rupees (390 dollars) to each family that built an underground bunker by the end of June, but there have been few takers.
"They should have provided the money in advance," said Mohammad Akbar, adding his family could not afford the materials needed for a suitable bunker
Asia & Africa
