A free telephone service offered by the Indian government to help Kashmiris trace their relatives across the devastated region is proving a mixed blessing for many.

Government employee Ghulam Jeelani, 38, a resident of northern Bandipora town, said he had been dialling three numbers for the past six days.

"Two phone lines seem to have gone dead. One is ringing, but no one is answering," Jeelani said.

"I have no information about my uncle's two sons and three daughters," sobbed Jeelani, who travels about 60 kilometers (37 miles) every day to reach a police control room in the Indian Kashmir summer capital Srinagar, one of the four centers where Kashmiris can make free calls across the divided Himalayan territory.

"This ordeal of ours should end," he said, urging India to allow Kashmiris to cross the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan to seek information about their relatives.

Since the free facility was launched on Wednesday last week, about 220 callers at the post have managed to get through to their relatives, said Farooq Ahmed, a policeman on duty.

"Unfortunately there are many who leave disappointed as no one responds from the other end," said Ahmed, who registers the telephone numbers and names of those fortunate enough to get through.

The free facility was launched days after the 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit northwestern Pakistan and parts of Indian-administered Kashmir on October 8, killing more than 50,000 people -- most of them Kashmiris in the Pakistani sector.

The free facility is scheduled to last 15 days.

Two of the centers have been functioning from the worst-hit sectors of Uri and Tangdar in north Indian Kashmir.

Ghulam Subhani, 32, a contractor, has also been among the unlucky ones. He has been trying unsuccessfully to contact his elder brother Ghulam Lasani, who migrated to Pakistani-administered Kashmir 15 years ago.

"We have been trying his number but there is no response," says Subhani, a villager from northern Keran sector, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Srinagar. "Someone should tell us whether he is dead or alive."

He said there are more than 7,000 people in Keran alone who have relatives in the devastated Pakistani zone.

"India and Pakistan should agree to open one LoC point in Keran. It will help us in this hour of crisis," he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

The arch-rivals are in discussion about opening up points along the LoC but no decision has yet been taken.

Other Kashmiris said they wanted to call mobile telephone numbers but the facility is not available.

The trunk exchange specially set up for the calls does not have connectivity with cellular phones, said Mufti Masharib, a senior officer at the government telecommunication department.

"Besides, the facility is limited to Muzaffarabad only, as per the directions from the central government," he said, referring to the ruined capital of Pakistani Kashmir where most houses are destroyed and phone lines severed.

But a relieved Pervaiz Ahmed, from quake-flattened Kamalkote village in the Uri section of Indian Kashmir, managed to talk to his brother, Iqbal Awan, across the divide.

"Hello, this is Pervaiz. We are fine. Call me on my mobile as mother wants to talk to you," said Ahmed, dictating the cell phone number to his brother.

Ahmed lost his two sons Rangzeb, four and Zubair, three, when his house caved in.

"I didn't even get time to bury them as I had to shift my injured mother to hospital," said Ahmed, wiping away his tears.

"Thanks to Allah my brother is fine. The news will make my mother happy," he said before rushing to a Srinagar hospital to inform her.

"He is not unlucky like us," said Ali Mohammed, who has been trying for days to contact his brother Ishtiyaq Ahmed and other relatives.

"There is no means to contact them. I am frustrated," he said, then left for his home town of Kupwara.

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