J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Army to vacate land near Jammu University
Jammu, March 1
After over 10 years of persuasion the Army authorities have agreed to vacate over 16 acres of land, adjacent to Jammu University, provided the state government earmarks land near Bhatindi, on the outskirts of the city, of equal value.

Admn fails to restore water, power supplies
Jammu, March 1
The insensitivity of the administration in Jammu and Kashmir has been exposed with its miserable failure to restore the drinking water and electricity supply and reopen roads in many interior areas of the state where life was disrupted due to rain and snow early last week.

WAR OF DIFFERENT KIND: Security forces personnel, holed up in their bunkers in Srinagar on Saturday, watch a group A match of the cricket World Cup between India and Pakistan. — PTI

Youth injured in blast
Jammu, March 1
A youth was injured in a landmine explosion in the border district of Samba today, the police said. Sunil Kumar walked over the landmine while working in his fields at Glard village, they said adding he was injured critically.

Badal blamed for split among Sikhs
Jammu, March 1
Several Sikh leaders, representing different organisations, in Jammu and Kashmir, have expressed concern over the growing conflict between two groups in the Golden Temple which recently resulted in injuries to a large number of members of the Khalsa Panchayat.

The Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir, Mr K. Rajindra Kumar, addresses the personnel of the first all-women police station after its inauguration at Nehru Park in Srinagar on Saturday. — PTI

PDP retains Pampore seat
Srinagar, March 1
The Peoples Democratic Party has retained the Pampore Assembly constituency of Pulwama district in South Kashmir, that went to the poll on Wednesday. The total number of votes polled out of 51,688 electorate was 19,432 which included 50 postal ballots of migrant voters.

Shivratri celebrated with fervour
Jammu, March 1
Maha Shivratri was celebrated with gaiety and fervour here today. A large number of pilgrims visited the Shiv-Khouri cave, Pir-Kho and two main Shiva temples in the city. The Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, said his effort “is to create conducive conditions for restoration of peace in the state”.

Jammu-Srinagar highway reopens
Jammu, March 1
The 300-km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened to vehicular traffic today after the Border Roads Organisation cleared the blockades caused due to multiple landslides. A BRO spokesman said the highway was blocked after landslides and heavy snowfall on the Banihal-Ramban-Kud-Batote stretch during the night.

Army to vacate land near Jammu University
M.L. Kak

Jammu, March 1
After over 10 years of persuasion the Army authorities have agreed to vacate over 16 acres of land, adjacent to Jammu University, provided the state government earmarks land near Bhatindi, on the outskirts of the city, of equal value.

The matter had been pending for the past several years and the Governor, Mr G.C. Saxena, and the former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, had even approached the Defence Minister for intervention so that the land, used as a transit camp for troops, could be handed over to Jammu University for carrying out several expansion programmes.

According to official sources, the Army authorities assured the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, during a day-long civil-military liaison conference, held here two days ago, that by the beginning of next year the area would be cleared of the Army occupation. However, the state government has directed the Revenue authorities to allot suitable land to the Army for setting up a transit camp near Bhatindi.

The sources said it was Mufti Sayeed who prevailed upon the Army commanders to vacate the area which was needed by Jammu University for raising various faculty complexes.

During the conference the Army authorities expressed their preparaness to vacate school buildings, sheds in industrial areas, and some huts belonging to the Tourism Department, which had been occupied by the security forces during the past eight to 13 years, provided alternative accommodation was made available where the security personnel could be lodged.

Senior state government functionaries informed the Army authorities that since readymade houses, which could accommodate more than three companies, were not available. Land could be allotted to the security forces on which they were free to build sheds or raise tented colonies.

Besides, issues pertaining to land compensation and rent of land and houses occupied by the security forces, infiltration from across the border and the need for civic measures to be initiated by the Army and the paramilitary forces were also discussed at the meeting.

Though the state government appreciated the role of the Army in building roads, adopting villages, holding medical camps and installation of drinking water pipelines, the defence authorities were told by the Chief Minister that their assistance was needed for carrying government’s programme of providing a healing touch to the people to its logical conclusion.

The Army team headed by the GOC-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt. Gen R.K. Nanavaty, informed the state authorities that whatever funds had been earmarked for civic programmes were being fully utilised by the troops in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Chief Minister is said to have told Army officers that search for peace and the government’s healing touch to people might not prove result-oriented unless the ingress from across the LoC was halted.

The senior Army functionaries listed several steps which had been initiated on the border for checking infiltration.

Admn fails to restore water, power supplies
S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 1
The insensitivity of the administration in Jammu and Kashmir has been exposed with its miserable failure to restore the drinking water and electricity supply and reopen roads in many interior areas of the state where life was disrupted due to rain and snow early last week.

This phenomenon is not new to the official culture here, but things moved in similar manner even during the previous regime of the National Conference when the style of functioning of the bureaucracy was more deplorable as the administration was virtually cut off from the common people.

Although the chaos due to rain and snow is almost an annual feature, but ironically the state government has not prepared any contingency plan to meet with such situation which has been taking them unawares.

Reports said many roads in the interior areas were still blocked due to snow and several villages were plunged into darkness for the past few days. It is expected that in certain rural areas it might take about a month to restore electricity.

MLAs have been expressing concern in the Assembly about the failure of the essential services in their respective areas. Electricity poles in many areas are worn out and collapsed under the weight of snow and also due to strong winds. The finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Baig, has said the replacement of poles would cost Rs 550 crore.

Gund and Narannagh villages in the Kashmir valley are in the dark ever since the snowfall. Widespread damage was reported in the Gurez area of the valley where life has been thrown our of gear. About six blocks in the Kishtwar area of Doda district were cut off from rest of the state.

The water supply to the Charar-e-Sharief area, near Srinagar, remained affected for several days and was restored yesterday. There were reports of damage to fruit plants in certain areas.

What to say of the rural areas, the electricity supply to the posh locality of Trikuta Nagar here was restored after five days. In Gandhi Nagar Colony, where a large number of influential persons reside, the power supply remaind disrupted for two days. Drinking water supply was also disrupted for a couple of days. However, senior officers and those close to the administration hardly faced any problem because they have been provided special connections of electricity.

A large number of bus passengers remained stranded here and enroute the 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which was blocked by landslides and snow at some places.

Youth injured in blast

Jammu, March 1
A youth was injured in a landmine explosion in the border district of Samba today, the police said.

Sunil Kumar walked over the landmine while working in his fields at Glard village, they said adding he was injured critically.

SRINAGAR: A militant of the al-Bader was arrested in Baramula district of Kashmir on Friday, according to the police.

The security forces made the arrest at the Rampora-Bandipora area and recovered one AK assault rifle, three magazines, 30 rounds, two under-barrel grenades and two kg of RDX from him, the police said.

Unidentified persons looted Rs 66,000 from a local cooperative bank, the police said on Saturday.

They broke open the cash chest of the bank at Sir Syed Abad in the Bemina locality and took away the money on Friday night. PTI

Badal blamed for split among Sikhs
Our Correspondent

Jammu, March 1
Several Sikh leaders, representing different organisations, in Jammu and Kashmir, have expressed concern over the growing conflict between two groups in the Golden Temple which recently resulted in injuries to a large number of members of the Khalsa Panchayat.

At a meeting here on Thursday, which was presided over by the President, State Gurdwara Parbandhak Board, Mr S.S. Wazir, leaders from Shiromani Akali Dal, the AISSF, the Youth Akali Dal, Bhai Kanhaiya Nishkam Seva Society, the Sikh Naujawan Sabha, adopted a resolution blaming the task force of the SGPC and AISSF, Mehta group, for causing injuries to members of the Khalsa Panchayat in the sacred shrine.

The resolution accused the former Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for having caused a split in the Sikh sangat by “engineering” the installation of Bhai Manjit Singh as a Jathedar. It said the removal of Bhai Ranjit Singh as Jathedar, Akal Takht and replacing him by Mr Joginder Singh had sown the seeds of dissensions.

The Sikh leaders demanded a CBI probe into the assets of Prof Manjit Singh so that it could be ascertained whether funds collected by him from the community were utilised on the poor and the needy.

Among those who attended the meeting included Mr Dayal Singh Wazir, Mr Gurbachan Singh Dutta, Mr Narbir Singh, Mr Paramjit Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Kulwant Singh and others.

Mr S.S. Wazir said it was time for the leaders of the community to look after welfare schemes so that a large number of Sikh families living below the poverty line were given suitable assistance in ameliorating their lot.

PDP retains Pampore seat
Tribune News Service and PTI

Srinagar, March 1
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has retained the Pampore Assembly constituency of Pulwama district in South Kashmir, that went to the poll on Wednesday. The total number of votes polled out of 51,688 electorate was 19,432 which included 50 postal ballots of migrant voters.

According to the District Election Officer, Mrs Naseema Lankar, PDP candidate, Zahoor Ahmad Mir got 14,317 votes defeating his nearest rival, Mushtaq Ahmad Kichay of the National Conference by a margin of 12,782 votes. The National Conference candidate got 1,535 votes followed by 983 polled by an Independent candidate, Ghulam Mohammad Yattoo. There were six other Independents in the fray.

The by-election to the constituency was held following the killing of the former MLA, Abdul Aziz Mir of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Mir had got a total number of 3,811 votes maintaining a lead over the NC candidate in the October, 2002 election, when only 19 per cent voters participated in the elections. This time, a total of 39 per cent voters exercised their franchise.

The strength of the PDP in the 87-member state Assembly has gone upto 17. The party secured 16 seats, including Pampore, in the general elections while Independent MLA from Banihal Moulvi Abdul Rashid joined the party two months ago.

Shivratri celebrated with fervour
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 1
Maha Shivratri was celebrated with gaiety and fervour here today. A large number of pilgrims visited the Shiv-Khouri cave, Pir-Kho and two main Shiva temples in the city.

The Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, said his effort “is to create conducive conditions for restoration of peace in the state”. Addressing Kashmiri Pandits at Purkhoo and Muthi migrant camps near here this morning, Mufti Sayeed said without Pandits, Kashmir is missing something.

Setting a new trend, the Chief Minister visited migrant camps despite inclement weather and greeted people on Shivratri. The gesture was equally responded by the migrants who received him with traditional warmth. He distributed gifts among migrants. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Mr Sartaj Madni, MLA, Mr Anil Goswami, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and other senior officers.

Jammu-Srinagar highway reopens

Jammu, March 1
The 300-km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened to vehicular traffic today after the Border Roads Organisation cleared the blockades caused due to multiple landslides.

A BRO spokesman said the highway was blocked after landslides and heavy snowfall on the Banihal-Ramban-Kud-Batote stretch during the night.

He said men and machines of the BRO cleared all blockades and threw open the highway today despite continuous rains.

The inter-district roads, however, remained open for vehicular traffic even after the rainfall, which was still continuing. PTI