J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Six militants gunned down
Srinagar, October 19
Six militants were killed by the security forces in the Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today. He said one militant was killed by the security forces in an encounter at Haripora Sogam in Kupwara district last evening. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition were seized.

A Kashmiri prepares traditional breads during the holy month of Ramzan in Srinagar on Tuesday. — Reuters

Power crisis in valley worsens
Srinagar, October 19
The Kashmir valley is in for acute power shortage during the next six months of winter following the damage caused to the 300 MVA grid station at Zainakote here yesterday.

Gupta urges PM to look into development works
Jammu, October 19
Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, a former Union Minister and a BJP leader, has urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to look into the delay being caused in the execution of the development works that were started in J&K during the NDA government at the Centre.

Six militants gunned down

Srinagar, October 19
Six militants were killed by the security forces in the Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

He said one militant was killed by the security forces in an encounter at Haripora Sogam in Kupwara district last evening. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition were seized.

He said the security forces gunned down three militants in another encounter at Dunduk last night. A civilian was also injured and one house was damaged in the clash.

Two more militants were killed by the forces during a search operation at Sabzi Madoon Darhal last night.

Meanwhile, troops on Tuesday seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including grenades, IEDs and assault rifles in north Kashmir, a Defence Ministry spokesman said here.

He said troops launched a major operation near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Tanghdar sector early this morning following intelligence information that militants had dumped arms and ammunition there.

He said after a long search in the dense forest, the troops unearthed the dump and recovered two AK rifles, four revolvers, four pistols, 10 magazines, 1100 rounds, one RPG, 66 hand grenades, 48 UBGL grenades, three IEDs, 60 detonators, 38 PDP switches, 45 detonator hand grenades, six remote controlled IEDs, three wireless sets, one binocular and one mobile phone.

The spokesman said the weapons and ammunition were buried in six cloth bags wrapped in plastic.

The arms and ammunition was to carry out attacks on security forces in north Kashmir, he said. — UNI

Power crisis in valley worsens
Ehsan Fazili
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 19
The Kashmir valley is in for acute power shortage during the next six months of winter following the damage caused to the 300 MVA grid station at Zainakote here yesterday.

The damage to the station was caused by angry demonstrators of the area following the death of two schoolchildren and injuries to six others when a live high-tension wire fell on the premises of the school yesterday. This has deprived the valley of over 300 MVA of power supplied from the station, while another 450 MVA is fed from the Pampore receiving station.

The Tourism Minister, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir, who visited the area today to take stock of the situation, was informed that the damage caused to the grid station was estimated at Rs 3 crore.

He said the restoration work would take at least six months, affecting the power supply from the station. During his interaction with local residents, Mr Mir expressed grief over the incident and sympathy with the bereaved families. The minister asked the staff concerned to initiate measures on a war-footing for the restoration of the system.

Even with the availability of 750 MVA, the consumers in the valley had been getting only 85 per cent of the power required, whereby there were daily power cuts of four and a half hours apart from weekly cuts. This was a curtailment of 15 per cent, but with the damage to the Zainakote grid station, the cuts would be increased by 25 per cent.

Earlier, the Power Minister, Mr Mohammad Sharief Niaz, stated that the government had made ample arrangements to maintain regular supply during Ramzan in the state. For the purpose, 200 MW additional electricity from the Power Trading Corporation of India from October 15 had been arranged. Three gas turbines at Pampore had been made operational to meet the increased requirement during Ramzan.

The minister said these arrangements had been made to restore the schedule of power cuts, which was affected last month due to the fall in generation because of the poor monsoon. He also appealed the public to avoid misuse of power.

The state has an annual expenditure of Rs 2000 crore on purchasing power from outside to meet the demand. Against the expenditure, the collections are less than Rs 300 crore, leading to a Rs 1700 crore deficit.

Gupta urges PM to look into development works
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 19
Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, a former Union Minister and a BJP leader, has urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to look into the delay being caused in the execution of the development works that were started in J&K during the NDA government at the Centre.

Welcoming the proposed visit of Dr Manmohan Singh to the state, Prof Gupta hoped that much of the problems faced by the people would receive his due attention.

He said the schemes launched in the state included the upgradation of the Jammu Medical College and Hospital, extension of railway line project to Kashmir, linking of Kishtwar Paddar road with Himachal Pradesh and execution of bridges at Basohli Akhnoor on Chenab.

He also stressed for looking into the cause of inordinate delay in the completion of Dulhasti hydel project.