Jammu, July 9
The presence of dairies in various residential colonies like Residency Road, Nanak Nagar and Shastri Nagar has been causing problems for residents, who are irked at the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities.

The sanitary conditions in these colonies are worst. The residents allege that despite complaining a number of times to the MC, no action has been taken so far.

Residents of Dalpatian colony, which is situated in the vicinity of the Chief Minister’s residence in the Residency Road area, are living in hell-like conditions because of the presence of around three dairies in their colony.

Around nine SSPs, 32 advocates and four session judges, besides engineers and doctors are living in this colony.

The poor upkeep of the dairies leads to unhygienic conditions. The sewerage system remains blocked most of the time and the threat of an epidemic outbreak looms large over the area.

“The drains always remain blocked in our area as the dairies generates a lot of waste every day, which is dumped into the drains,” claims Paramjeet Singh, a resident of the colony.

Animal dung is the main reason behind the blockage of sewer lines, as the drains are not wide enough to carry such load of waste.

The accumulated dung inside the dairies serves as breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies, posing a health hazard. Moreover, people living in the locality are forced to bear the stench.

The residents allege that the only sweeper appointed by the MC for the colony never cleans cow dung. “Instead of cleaning cow dung, she (sweeper) dumps the collected garbage into the drains,” allege residents.

A dairy farm maintained by Karan Kumar Dubey is situated adjacent to a government school. “Besides schoolchildren and staff, we are also suffering due to its presence,” says Devinder Mahajan, a resident. “I cannot use a portion of my house due to the foul smell which comes out of the dairy,” he adds.

It is also learnt that many families have shifted from the colony due to the presence of dairies.

Devinder Mahajan says he has also decided to shift from the colony. He alleges that the authorities are favouring the dairy owners.

Ramesh, a dairy owner in the colony, says he usually receive many complaints from the residents about the foul smell. “Though I want to shift my dairy, but I have no funds to do that. If the government allots me land outside the city limits I will definitely move there,” he adds.

Similar are the conditions in Nanak Nagar and Shastri Nagar.

“Dung and urine remain accumulated in the streets, which means more flies and mosquitoes in the area,” says Sanmeet Kaur, a resident of Nanak Nagar.

Roopa Devi of Shastri Nagar near the Nai Basti area rues that the authorities are doing nothing to shift the dairies outside the residential areas.

Meanwhile, Kavinder Bushan Gupta, a former Mayor, says, “Around 100 dairies are functioning within the municipal limits. So far there is no provision to shift the dairies outside the residential areas. However, as per rules, dairies are not allowed to run from the residential area.”

Dr Kulwant Singh, health inspector, says, “Dairies functioning from the residential areas can cause an epidemic. They are the main cause of unhygienic conditions in the colonies. The government should take action against such dairy owners”.

A senior advocate says, “As per law, dairies cannot operate from residential areas. It is failure on the part of the municipal corporation to enforce the law strictly”. 

Jammu, July 9
Even as the Central government has formulated a number of comprehensive schemes for the socio-economic growth of landless rural people, these schemes have failed to yield encouraging results in Jammu and Kashmir due to the non-existence of panchayats in the state.

Programmes like the Indira Awas Yojna, the MNREGA and the Rural Sanitation Programme are not properly implemented in the state, as there is not any elected body in villages to monitor the proper implementation of such schemes, which are formulated especially to target the neglected and marginalised rural lot.

“Due to the non-existence of Panchayati Raj Institution in the state, people are suffering as all Centrally sponsored schemes are not being implemented properly and deserving people are being deprived of the benefits of such programmes,” observed NC Gour, national secretary general, All-India Panchayat Sangathan.

Gour, along with other members of the Sangathan, was in Jammu to participate in a one-day conference, which was organised by the state unit of the Sangathan to discuss Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state.

In other parts of the country, panchayats have constituted bodies to monitor the proper implementation of such schemes, but in Jammu and Kashmir only MLAs and bureaucrats have been monitoring such schemes.

“As villagers do not have any say in the implementation of such schemes, undeserving people are taking benefits of such programmes and furthermore implementation of such schemes has become a source of corruption for the people at the helm of affairs,” Gour said.

After a gap of two decades, panchayat elections were held in 2001 when Farooq Abdullah was the Chief Minister of the state.

According to official documents of the Rural Development Department, out of the total 2,701 panchayats, elections were held in about 1,900 panchayats in 2001. Panchayats of border districts of Kupwara and Baramullah of the Kashmir province did not go for polls due to militancy.

Although the elections were held after a gap of 20 long years, all elected panchayats were disclosed premature in April 2005 due to some political reasons. During the last five years, the government has been repeatedly stating that panchayat elections would be held very soon, but these statements remained only on papers as nothing concrete has been done to decentralise the powers at the grass-roots level.

“Even when panchayat elections were held in 2001, the then government had failed to complete the entire process of making Panchayati Raj Institutions three-tier,” Gour said, adding, “It is being observed that the ruling elites of Jammu and Kashmir are non-serious in decentralisation of power.”

“If Assembly and Parliament elections can be held in the state, then there is no reason to delay panchayat elections,” he said and observed that without implementing the 73rd amendment of 1993 in letter and in spirit, Panchayati Raj Institutions could not be strengthened.

Jammu, July 9
Just across the signboards reading a message exhorting people to conserve forests, huge logs of pine trees are strewn all over the barren land of officially demarcated forest area.

While travelling on the national highway from Akhnoor to Sunder Bani and then up to Kalakote tehsil, half-burnt yet standing or felled pine trees catch sight repeatedly. And it’s not an uncommon sight in all forest areas of the three tehsils that prominently surface on the forest map of the state.

The areas are usually known for resinous pine trees, but the identity seems to be under fire with departments concerned who have turned Nelson’s Eye towards the emerging situation.

Complete absence of saplings or plants in these forests is the prime cause of concern. “Just give Rs 100 or at the most Rs 150 to any forest guard and take your pick of tree”. The standard statement every person flaunts on being asked about the economics of wood in the area.

Due to dirt cheap prices and easy availability, pine wood is extensively used in the construction of houses in such villages. Officially, the cutting of pine trees is banned, but the ground reality is starkly different. A tour to the forested villages of Kalidhar and Pania in Akhnoor tehsil, Lamman in Sunder Bani tehsil and Danti and Harthama in Kalokote tehsil presented different picture.

Although the fencing of forests has helped a little in conserving the existing forest cover, yet due to poor supervisory and fire-fighting mechanism, the number of trees is deteriorating fast.

While the population of villages is naturally increasing, nomads have also started settling in forest areas, which has given a way to cutting of trees. Due to their dependence on the farm sector, forestland is fast converting into agricultural land.

Possibilities that the villagers willingly set fire to forests cannot be ruled out. Sources maintain that for the want of fodder and fresh grass, locals usually set wild vegetation on fire. As a consequence of which saplings of pine trees also get burnt down.

While roaming though forests, one can now hardly see any young pine tree, whereas old trees bear cuts on the trunk apparently for the extraction of resin with their trunks half burnt that indicates the frequency with which the fire breaks out in these forests.

“While the trees grown along rivers and other abandoned places belong to the Revenue Department, but in actuality, there is no check on felling of trees over there also,” they added.

Additionally, huge sawmills converting trees into logs and lumbers in the close vicinity of forests were also seen operating without any check. Most of the sawmills have been operating within the denied distance from forests.

Besides felling and fire incidents in forests, pruning of trees is another major threat to the forests.

One can easily find villagers chopping off the branches of trees besides young plants along roadsides.

The plight of plants and trees in the interiors can be better judged.

Normal life has been affected to an extent these days due to the restrictions on movement of all and sundry. These checks have been imposed to prevent any untoward incidents and any further loss of life.

The scene has shifted from outdoor activity to indoor one for everyone, be it a commoner, senior officers or ministers. While many remain glued to their television sets to know about the happenings, top officers and ministers seem to be awfully busy in working out the means and ways to come out of the prevailing scenario.

Srinagar, July 9
Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has directed the banks functioning in the state to improve the credit deposit ratio (CDR) which is barely 45.85 per cent against the national benchmark of 70 per cent.

Speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, at the meeting of Chief Ministers of north zone states held at Chandigarh recently, the Finance minister said the low CDR resulted in the flight of capital, which hampered economic growth in the state. The meeting was convened by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to review performance of banks and financial institutions working across the country.

“Addressing the problem of low CDR of the banking sector and the access to cheap and hassle-free credit are indeed a key for growth of any developing economy”, Rather said. Maintaining that Jammu and Kashmir has enough potential to emerge as a strong economy, Rather asked the financial institutions and nationalised banks to come forward to expand the quantum of credit and its reach so that a vast majority of the rural populace which continued to remain deprived of means due to an extremely difficult terrain and the non-availability of hassle-free credit facilities, could be benefited. Expressing concern over the unsatisfactory performance of some banks in achieving loan targets to the priority sector, Rather said J&K Bank was comparatively doing well in extending credit under numerous RBI schemes, followed by SBI and PNB.

“A major area of concern is flow of low credit to agriculture and allied sectors”, Rather said, adding that the banks in the state had not been able to achieve the mandatory 18 per cent credit to the agriculture sector “which offers unprecedented scope and opportunities to give a push to the state’s development efforts and, in turn, its economy”. Similarly, credit to government-sponsored schemes (GSSs) offers vast scope for credit enhancement, which, unfortunately, has not picked up well affecting the flow of credit to employment-generation schemes, the minister said, adding that information reported by SLBC shows that the banks avoided extending credit to GSSs.

Rather also sought support from the Union Finance Ministry for special interest subvention scheme for the horticulture industry in the state where the post harvest facilities like cold storage; CAS and agro-processing have not developed sufficiently adding that a special scheme of interest subvention for the horticulture would help to attract investments in this sector. He also sought support for providing to J&K Bank the facility of interest subvention on agriculture loans up to Rs. 3 lakh which is presently available to the public sector banks, cooperative banks and RRBs in the country but denied to J&K Bank being a private sector bank.

Rather said a road map had been approved for achieving 100 per cent targets under the financial inclusion plan (FIP) by the end of fiscal 2012-13. 

Jammu, July 9
Besides guarding borders in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army has been organising sporting events for the local populace, particularly in the remote and far-flung areas thereby bringing spark on the faces of those, who otherwise had nothing much but militancy, either to witness or bear.

Continuing with its dual approach to protect borders and liven up the lives of militancy hit people, the Tithwal Brigade organised an inter-village volleyball tournament in Rajouri from June 28 to July 7.

The event was a success with keen participation from youth and elders alike from a large number of villages of the area. The zest and competitive spirit displayed by the villages was indeed heartening. The tournament was conducted on league-cum-knockout basis and at the end, the teams from Nowshera and Langar villages entered the finals.

The spectacular final match between the two teams was played on July 7, and was witnessed by a large gathering consisting of some prominent members like district sports officer, Rajouri; SDM Nowshera; deputy commissioner; and sarpanches.

In the finals, the team from Langar displaying magnificent teamwork and skill, supported by a rapturous crowd, won the match in style. The Commander of the Tithwal Brigade, who was also the chief guest, gave away prizes to the participants.

He complimented people for displaying keen interest in the event while appreciating the high standard of sporting talent existing in the region. “Events of this nature not only encourage youth to nurture their talent in sporting activities but also help build bonhomie, team spirit, esprit de corps and harmony, which is extremely vital for the region,” he said.

The commander thanked the villagers for extending support and cooperation to the unit and exhorted all to join hands with the security forces in their march towards realising the ultimate goal of development, peace and prosperity in the region.

The event culminated with tea and refreshment for all participants and spectators during which people also had an opportunity to interact with the Commander.