Jammu, March 24
It is going to be a long-drawn battle to revive the Tawi as plans to restore the river’s pristine glory are far from execution.

As mentioned in the previous report of The Tribune investigation, a large amount of untreated waste continues to pour into the river. Currently there are no fully operational sewage treatment plants. In the absence of a sewage treatment and solid waste management plant, the Tawi will continue to receive the city waste.

The construction work is under way for three sewage treatment plants (STP) in the city at the land possessed by the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) in Bhagwati Nagar. Officials claim that of these three STPs, a 10 million litre per day (mld) STP is almost complete and is under trial, whereas two more STPs are under construction.

The UEED started work for the 10 mld up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Technology (ASBT) STP in 1996-97 at an estimated cost of Rs 34.77 crore. To date, around 5,500 houses of Talab Tillo have been connected with the plant. NH Khan, Executive Engineer, UEED, said the work was being done in a phased manner and they had completed the phase one.

“For the next phase, we will construct trunk sewers, lay down the laterals and connect the rest of the houses in Talab Tillo. The estimated cost for the project is Rs 13.81 crore,” he added.

Giving details of the STP, he said about 2 mld of sewerage was being treated on a trial basis using the ASBT. During the treatment, sludge settles down, which gets converted to manure and the water is recycled and poured into the river. “The STP would be commissioned by the end of this month,” he said.

Another 30 mld STP based on the Moving Bed Technology is under construction for over a year at the same location, which will cater to the areas on the right side of national highway up to Janipur Nullah, including Bakshi Nagar. The Economic Reconstruction Agency is the executing agency for the STP.

A STP of 27 mld capacity based on the Activated Sludge Based Technology is also under construction since 2008 at an estimated cost Rs 129 crore. The National Building Construction Corporation is the executing agency for the project. The STP will cater to the needs of the entire old city area.

The UEED has also submitted a project to the Union Ministry of Urban Development concerning the tapping of the sewerage drains directly falling into the Tawi.

Khan said: “A project, ‘Tapping of All Nullahs of Greater Jammu city from Panjtirthi to Canal Road’, at an estimated cost of Rs 25.18 crore was submitted to the Centre on 25 October, 2011. It will help sort the issue out once and for all.”

Though government has started linking the city with the STPs, the pace of the work suggests that it will take a lot of time to execute the projects.

Moreover, the untreated solid municipal waste is being dumped near the Tawi riverbed. Even as the Jammu Municipal Corporation’s practice to directly dump the solid waste into the river was checked after the intervention of the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control a few months ago, owing to unavailability of any solid waste management project, the JMC is dumping the waste on its own land near the riverbank. KL Khajuria, JMC Commissioner, said: “Over 350MT of municipal waste is being collected daily from the city, which is dumped on the UEED land near the Tawi.”

He said they would soon invite tenders for solid waste management plant. “Earlier it was proposed to be constructed in Kangryl at the JMC land, but the local residents were misled and the project was sabotaged. We have written to the higher authorities for the identification of land,” he added.

Awareness lacking

The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has failed to display the results of water quality monitoring of the Tawi. Lal Chand, Chairman, SPCB, said they had not prepared any display material so far, but some pamphlets were distributed by the department. “We will look for better displaying options to aware people about the pollution level of the Tawi,” he assured. 

Division of Jammu City as per sewerage system

Zone Areas

A Old city from Panjtirthi to Toph

B Toph to Muthi

C Gandhi Nagar to Digina

D Bari Brahnina and adjoining areas

(Zones A and B are to be taken under the UEED STPs as untreated sewerage pours into the Tawi from these zones) 

Tribune campaign

The first part of the series launched on Saturday reported how the BOD level, an indicator of organic pollution in water, in the Tawi increased from 1.2 mg/l to 27 mg/l within the short distance it traverses through the city. The level permissible for drinking is 2 mg/l, but that too needs treatment.

Sewage treatment plants coming up

The 10 million litres per day (mld) STP based on the Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Technology at an estimated cost of ~34.77 crore is under trial. It will connect houses in Talab Tillo

The 30 mld STP based on the Moving Bed Technology is under construction for over a year. It will cater to the areas on the right side of national highway up to Janipur Nullah

The 27 mld STP based on the Activated Sludge Based Technology is under construction since 2008 at an estimated cost ~29 crore. It will cater to the needs of the entire old city area

Jammu, March 24
The Power Development Department (PDD) employees went on strike today and snapped the power supply to the Old City parts for seven hours after their colleagues were allegedly thrashed by some shopkeepers in the Purani Mandi area.

Eyewitnesses said some PDD employees went to the market for disconnecting the electricity connections of the defaulters at 11 am.

“The PDD employees asked the defaulters to pay their outstanding amount of electricity bill. It led to a verbal spat between shopkeepers and employees. Some shopkeepers had pending bills ranging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 90,000. The incident took an ugly turn after some shopkeepers thrashed the PDD workers,” they added.

The PDD employees were subjected to severe thrashing when the incensed PDD workers started disconnecting electricity connections, they said.

Four PDD employees, identified as Subash Sharma, Subash Chander, Sanjeev Singh and Sanjay Gupta, were allegedly thrashed by the shopkeepers.

The employees informed the matter to their seniors, who took up the issue with Jammu SSP Prabhat Singh. They filed a written complaint demanding the registration of an FIR against the culprits.

As the police did not initiate any action against the shopkeepers till 1 pm, the agitating employees snapped the power supply of the Purani Mandi and adjoining localities from the Parade Power Station and went on an indefinite strike. They remained adamant on their demand for registration of a case against the shopkeepers who manhandled the PDD employees.

Later in the evening, senior police officers visited the PDD office and assured the agitating employees that they would send a team of police personnel along with them to the market for disconnecting all connections of defaulters. They also assured the workers of investigating into the matter and registering a case against the guilty. On the assurance of the police officers, they restored the power supply at around 7:30 pm.

The power department has asked all the consumers having electricity bills of Rs 10,000 or above should pay their dues by March 26. It has threatened to disconnect their electricity connections forthwith without any further notice. The department has also decided that names of the defaulters, who fail to deposit the bills by March 26, would be published in the daily newspapers.

Jammu, March 24
To strengthen the emergency services at the Government Medica l College and Hospital in Jammu, the government today installed six more ventilators in the hospital.

RS Chib, Minister for Medical Education, “We had been facing pressure at the tertiary institute and it was becoming quite difficult for the medicos to handle the situations at emergency. Many members in the Legislative Council raised the issue of dearth of the vital medical equipment.”

He said the installation of ventilators would surely help in monitoring the cases of serious nature.

“Keeping in view the mounting pressure on the GMC, we will soon buy some more medical equipment for the betterment in patient care system,” added Chib. 

Jammu, March 24
Notwithstanding the government’s claims of expediting recruitment process to reduce the distress level among the unemployed youth, about 1,245 selected candidates, who had applied for the post of warder in the state Prison Department, are still awaiting formal appointment orders even after the lapse of seven years.

Ironically, the department said these candidates didn’t have any locus standi as their selection was not authenticated by the recruitment board. It has further said the government might go for a fresh recruitment process soon.

Infuriated over the government’s indifferent and casual approach, scores of these candidates today assembled outside the Jammu Press Club and staged a demonstration against the department. They said the authorities were playing with their future as some of them were getting overaged.

“As many as 1,245 candidates had qualified outdoor, physical and screening in November 2010, but the department has failed to release the final selection list even after the lapse of two years. We are forced to come on roads as nobody wants to pay heed to our grievances,” said Pankaj Sharma, one of the qualified candidates.

He said there were 3,000 vacancies lying vacant in the department. “Central Police Personnel Force (CRPF) and Punjab Police jawans have been deployed at various places. We fail to understand what stops the government from issuing the final selection list. The selected candidates are getting overaged, but the department is least bothered about the problems being faced by them,” he said.

RK Manhas, another candidate, said: “A deputation of the candidates, who appeared for screening tests, had met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who assured them of resolving the issues within three days. The meeting was held on September 21, 2011, but no action was initiated to redress our grievances”.

Naveen Aggarwal, Director-General (Prisons), J&K, however, said these candidates had no locus standi as they were not shortlisted by the recruitment board.

“Out of around 40,000 candidates who had applied for the post of warder in 2005, only 2,000 candidates turned up for outdoor and screening tests conducted by the district-level committees in 2010. Some 1,200 candidates were shortlisted by these committees. The recruitment board, however, didn’t authenticate the shortlisting of these candidates,” he said.

The Director-General further said the board had submitted its observations to the government and the department was awaiting the government’s directions.

“They had applied against 40 to 50 vacancies of warder in the department,” he said, adding that the government might go for a fresh selection process.

Jammu, March 24
The jewelle rs’ strike entered its eighth day today here in the winter capital and in other jewellers’ markets across the region in response to a nationwide call. The state government has apparently not deemed it fit to talk to the striking jewellers.

Holding black flags in their hands, the striking jewellers assembled at the Chabutra Chowk here and criticised both the Union and state governments for turning a deaf ear to their genuine demands. The jewellers have been demanding withdrawal of the 30 per cent tariff value on ornaments, which has been implemented in the wake of the Union Budget 2012-13.

Addressing the jewellers, Kulbhushan Anand, president of the Swarnkar Sangh Jammu, said a 72-hour bandh called by the Akhil Bharatiya Swarnkar Sangh Delhi would continue till the government rolls back its decision of levying excise duty.

The Dark Age for jewellers has returned and it seems that the Centre wants to strangulate our community to death, said Anand.

He appealed to the Union government to take back what he called a ‘draconian’ decision to levy excise tax and duty tax, especially on non-branded ornaments. It is a matter of grave concern that the state government has not deputed any official to find a way out and help us, he said.

Anand said that if the government failed to wake up from its deep slumber, then jewellers would be compelled to launch a fast unto death.

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Retailers’ Federation have extended their support to the ongoing strike.

Parjan Kumar Jain, president of the Sarafa Association Jammu, said in 1990, gold ornaments were exempted from the purview of excise duty, but this year the Union Government in its budget brought goldsmiths, including even small jewellers, under the ambit of excise duty.

“Tax is not a problem for us, but the cumbersome procedure involving maintenance of records will take a heavy toll on us,” he said. “Maintaining three books, three stocks, excise sale voucher and VAT sale voucher is a time consuming job,” said Jain.

Earlier, the jewellers had been paying one per cent excise duty on raw gold, which, too, has been hiked to 4 per cent in the Union Budget this year.

Jain informed that the ongoing country-wide strike by jewellers has been causing a whopping loss of Rs 1,000 crore every day to th Centre.

Jammu province, comprising 10 districts, has three lakh jewellers and workers associated with the trade. “The state government can cite Article 370 to the Union Government to exempt us from the ambit of excise duty but nothing is happening,” he said.

Jammu, March 24
Muninder Singh Multani was adjudged Mr J&K (Senior) in below 80-kg weight category in the J&K State Bodybuilding Championship held at Police Auditorium here today.

Nitish Kumar was declared Mr J&K (Junior) in 65-kg weight category, while the Best Improved Body Award went to Gazi Pervez.

Amit Sharma was adjudged the Best Poser in the championship, which was organised by the All-J&K Amateur Bodybuilding Association.

Devinder Singh Rana, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister, was the chief guest on the occasion who gave away winner and runner-up trophies to the participants.

Pervez Malik, Director, CAPD, and president, Jammu District Bodybuilding Association, Anil Gupta, president, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front, and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Anil Gupta also honoured Amit Choudhary of the Indian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation. Amit received a cash prize of Rs 10,000.

Other Results:

Below 55kg: Jamuna Parsad (1st); and Latesh Kumar (2nd)

Below 60kg: Sahil Kumar (1st); Happy (2nd); and Dheeraj Khajuria (3rd)

Below 65kg: Nitesh Kumar (1st); Soumanya Sharma (2nd); and Jagroop Singh (3rd)

Below 75kg: Anil Bhatti (1st)

Junior 75+: Sadaf Mufti (1st)

Junior below 70kg: Ramesh Kumar (1st)

Jammu, March 24
Simula XI notched up a comprehensive 44-run win over Engineers XI in the summit clash to clinch the 2nd Police Martyrs T20 Cricket Tournament at the MA Stadium here yesterday.

Batting first, Simula XI piled up challenging 1657/7 in the stipulated overs. Shubham Khajuria was the star performer who played an impressive knock of 76 runs.

He pierced seven delectable hits to the fence and one mighty heave for the maximum. Dhruv Mahajan also chipped in handy 51 studded with six boundaries and a six. Gulzar contributed 21 runs.

It was a hard day for Engineers XI bowlers to contain Simula XI batsmen, especially Khajuria, who played strokes almost at will to all corners of the park.

Ravi Kant was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Kuldeep and Shabaz had to settle for two scalps apiece. Rinku took one wicket. Chasing 168 runs to win, Engineers XI ended up with 1213/5 in their allotted quota of overs. Manoj played a gutsy knock of 33 runs but in vain as other batsmen found it difficult to cope up with the disciplined bowling of Simula XI. Zeeshan and Shabaz scored 29 and 15 runs, respectively. For Simula XI, Ram Dayal, Khajuria, Mahajan and Manik Gupta snared a wicket each. Mahajan was adjudged the man of the series while Khajuria was the man of the match.

Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani was the chief guest on the occasion. The tournament was organised by the J&K Police.

Jammu, March 24
Farhan Mirza emerged the fastest athlete in 100m sprint in below 35 years age group at the Bar Association Sports Meet 2012, which commenced at University of Jammu grounds here today.

Saquib and AP Singh finished joint second, while Pardeep Majotra secured third position.

In 400m, Pardeep bagged top honours, whereas Suresh Kumar and Amulya Gupta had to settle for second spot, respectively.

In above 35 years age group, Daleep stood first, whereas Rajesh and Roshan Choudhary had to contend with second and third positions, respectively.

Vikas Sharma emerged victorious in 400m. Jyoti Mishra and Manvir Singh secured second and third positions, respectively.

Similarly, in the girls’ section, Nisha Raina secured top slot in 50m, whereas Arfa, Deepa and Surbhi finished joint second. Meenakshi secured third position.

Jammu, March 24
Naresh Kumar, a daily wage labourer living in Maratha Mohalla, was detected with tuberculosis last month. He left his work due to his failing health and now his four children and wife are working to earn their living.

He is not the lone sufferer from the slum as many others in the area are falling prey to the disease. The slum of the labourers from Maharashtra has been detected prone to TB since 2010 and at present, 16 patients are undergoing treatment for the disease.

“Most of the TB patients are from the slum areas and we have found that the Maratha Mohalla in Trikuta Nagar has a large number of TB patients. We have been running a number of programmes, including ‘Tapasya’ project for the TB patients there,” said Dr Poonam Mahajan, district tuberculosis officer, Jammu.

As most of the residents of the Maratha Mohalla are uneducated, they do not know the reason of the disease and the ways to cure it.

Mahajan said volunteers from the slum and its vicinity had come forward to help the patients by distributing DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Shot) among them. As a result of which the number of patients has decreased, but the occurrence of the disease is still reported from there.

With the theme of World Tuberculosis Day as “Stop TB in my lifetime”, the number of TB cases in Jammu district has increased as compared to the last year. This year, the government has registered over 3,624 patients suffering from TB in Jammu district, whereas 3,100 patients were reported in 2010. In the first three months of the current year, the number of registered cases is 416.

Among the patients detected with the disease, 20 per cent are children and the main reason of them falling prey to this disease is malnutrition, poor hygienic conditions and low immunity.

Parul, a resident of the Bahu Fort area, who has been working as a DOTS volunteer for the past two years, said, “The disease is still treated a taboo in our society. Recently there was a case of a patient from a business family in Jammu, where the wife was sent to her parent’s house after getting detected with TB. It is not only poor who are illiterate about this disease but the rich families are also not well informed.”