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Traffic curbs on Srinagar-Leh road
High Court seeks compliance report on food safety norms
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No let-up in employees’ protests
Waterlogged NH irks Bijbehara residents
Four injured in road accidents
‘Funds being squandered’
Don’t surrender to NC, PDP and Cong, says Peoples’ Conference
Pakistan visit: To build consensus, Hurriyat Conference consults traders
Student-industry interface held at KU
Handwara residents protest erratic power supply, ‘inflated’ bills
Regipora traders demand resumption of work on bus stand
Protesters block highway for three hours
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Traffic curbs on Srinagar-Leh road
Srinagar, November 27 As the weatherman has forecast snowfall on November 29 in the higher reaches, the government has ordered traffic restrictions on the movement of vehicles on Kargil-Zans-kar, Srinagar-Zojila-Kargil, Kupwara-Machil/ Tangdhar, Anantnag-Sinthan-Kishtwar, Bandipora-Gurez roads and Shopian-Mughal roads on the same day as a precautionary measure. The orders were issued by Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon. Orders have also been issued to the authorities concerned to take appropriate measures in view of the expected inclement weather conditions in the upper reaches. While the public has been appealed to defer their travel programmes, the Valley continued to witness sub-zero night temperatures. The summer capital of the state recorded minimum temperature of minus 1.7 degrees Celsius while Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, saw a low of minus 2.4 degrees, an official of the Meteorological Department said. The tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir and the border town of Kupwara recorded minimum temperature of minus 3.8 and minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, respectively. The ski resort of Gulmarg saw a low of minus 4.9 degrees Celsius. However, most parts of the Valley witnessed bright and sunny days, the MeT official said. The maximum temperatures recorded at Srinagar, Qazigund, Pahalgam and Kupwara were 15.5, 15.9, 12.2 and 16.5 degrees Celsius, respectively. The authorities had issued similar restrictions earlier this month where people were advised to avoid travel. An official said the advisories had “proved helpful, as no accidents occurred on these roads, which had experienced snowfall”. Routes to be affected
The movement of vehicles will be restricted on Kargil-Zanskar, Srinagar-Zojila-Kargil, Kupwara-Machil/ Tangdhar, Anantnag-Sinthan-Kishtwar, Bandipora-Gurez and Shopian-Mughal roads on November 29 as a precautionary measure |
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High Court seeks compliance report on food safety norms
Srinagar, November 27 The court has sought personal appearance of J-K Chief Secretary on next hearing, which has been fixed after two weeks. The orders were passed by a Division Bench of the High Court today while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking implementation of food safety standards to check food adulteration in the state. During the hearing today, it was pointed out by the litigant lawyers that the state government has so far not acted on the recommendations of the high-powered committee constituted on the directions of the high court. The committee, constituted in September, had
recommended a full-time Commissioner for Food Safety having the rank of Commissioner Secretary as one of the measures aimed at implementing food safety standards and rules in the state. The Food Safety Act, 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards Rules of 2011 provide that the post of the Commissioner Food Safety should be manned by a person of Commissioner Secretary rank while in J&K, the job has been assigned to the Drug Controller as an “additional charge”, which has been opposed in the PIL. “The court today asked the government to file within two weeks its compliance report explaining the steps taken in furtherance of the recommendations by the Special High-powered Committee, which had recommended appointment of a full-time Commissioner Food Safety. The state Chief secretary has been asked to appear in person on the next hearing”, said advocate Tassaduq Khawaja, who represented the petitioners in the PIL. He said the court has also asked the Drug Controller, who holds the additional charge of Commissioner Food Safety, to be present on the next hearing. What the PIL says
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No let-up in employees’ protests
Srinagar, November 27 The JCC leaders, according to the press secretary of the amalgam Pir Nisar Ahmad, gathered at the Eidgah ground in Pulwama where the employees' leaders addressed the gathering. "Senior JCC leaders like Khurshid Alam, Farooq Trali among others spoke on the occasion and later a procession was taken out towards the Deputy Commissioner’s office," Nisar told The Tribune over the phone from Pulwama. He said they presented a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner regarding their long-pending demands and the district-wide protests would continue. The next JCC demonstration is scheduled to be held on November 29 in Ganderbal district. Nisar said the JCC would intensify its protests as their demands were being ‘cold-shouldered’ by the government. The JCC had earlier called for a state-wide strike in the government offices on December 14 and 15. After a series of protests and strikes by the employees earlier this year, the government had made an agreement with the JCC wherein the employees were assured that a decision on their demands would be announced by September 30. However, the JCC then resumed protests, saying the government had ‘betrayed’ them. The employees’ demands include release of arrears recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years, removal of pay anomalies and regularisation of daily wagers and casual workers working in various government departments. The other JCC demands are inclusion of five years of contractual service of Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers in the service book and regularisation of education volunteers after seven years of service. The Demands
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Parimpora-Qamarwari road in a shambles
Srinagar, November 27 “This is a small stretch of road and its completion would have eased the traffic flow to a large extent, but the work on the project has been going on at a snail’s pace,” said Bilal Ahmed, a resident of Qamarwari. “The road is very vital but the authorities are not concerned about woes of local residents who have to face trouble daily,” he added. An official of the Roads and Buildings department said major problem for the delay in the upgrade of the road was delay in acquisition of land and removal of structures whether commercial or non- commercial.What is annoying the commuters more is that the road stretch continues to cause a
lot of inconvenience to commuters as the road is engulfed with dense dust when vehicles move on
the road. Also, electric poles which have become redundant as a result of erection of new poles have not been still removed. “The existence of these redundant poles is creating hurdles in the movement of traffic and pedestrians besides hindering the executing agency
in taking up further work at these spots,” said an official. Chief Engineer Roads and Buildings Mushtaq Ahmned Lone said the work on the stretch was in full swing. “By March 2014, the four-laning of the Parimpora-Qamarwari road should be ready,” Lone said. |
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Waterlogged NH irks Bijbehara residents
Anantnag, November 27 When RAMKY Constructions, a
Hyderabad-based group, took over the widening project of the National Highway 1-A, it was also entrusted with the maintenance of the existing road. However, the locals say the construction company was doing nothing in this regard. “You can see the condition of the road yourself. It has become a nuisance for us,” said
Samiullah, a shopkeeper at Bijbehara. He said the road had been waterlogged for more than two months and was causing inconvenience to the locals. “We have to shield our shops with plastic sheets as due to fast-moving vehicles, water gets splashed into our shops,” said another shopkeeper, Muzaffar Ahmad Dar. Many locals say they cannot venture out of their houses without spoiling their clothes. “The road has become a nightmare for the pedestrians. It is impossible to tread this stretch of road without getting wet,” said Adil Shah, a local resident. However, the RAMKY group authorities say that they are taking good care of the existing highway and have also repaired it. “I will make sure that the stretch is tended to. I’ll send some people and they will ascertain what needs to be done,” said Sunil
Pahalwan, vice president, RAMKY Constructions. |
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Four injured in road accidents
Srinagar, November 27 In another accident, a tipper (JK02F/1951) hit and injured eight-year-old girl Masrat Jan, daughter of Nazir Ahmad Bhadana, a resident of Gowren in Kokernag, Anantnag. The police spokesman said a car (JK03B/9300) hit and injured Ghulam Hassan, son of Abdul Gaffer, a resident of Arigul near Seer in Ashmuqam, Anantnag. |
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‘Funds being squandered’
Srinagar, November 27 “The Chief Minister’s dichotomist stance on the coalition sounds like the proverbial hunting with the hound and running with the deer,” Mehbooba said while addressing a PDP workers’ convention in the Tral area of south Kashmir. Mehbooba said having left hapless people of the state in the lurch, the functionaries of the present regime were busy amassing wealth with impunity and that they blamed others for the injustices being done to the public. She said the people of the state were suffering due to wrong and corrupt policies of the present regime. “There is a lack of basic amenities such as good roads, drinking water, power supply, proper healthcare facilities etc. Money from Centrally-sponsored schemes available for the welfare of the common masses is being squandered. It is either being misused or remains unspent. Thousands of cases of financial aid to the old, widows, handicapped persons are pending for the past four years with the Social Welfare Department,” she said, adding that people alleged massive misuse of the MGNREGA funds. Mehbooba said the available government jobs were being distributed selectively. |
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Don’t surrender to NC, PDP and Cong, says Peoples’ Conference
Srinagar, November 27 This was said by PC spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu in a statement issued here. “Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has publicly admitted that the MLAs of all the three traditional political parties had pressed on him to not empower panches and sarpanches. The Congress-NC bonhomie is ironic considering this admission by Omar and the public criticism of the state government by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who said he was dismayed by the fact that the J&K Government hadn’t passed on the requisite powers to the panchayats,” he said. Flaying the PDP, he said the opposition party on the other hand had “consistently remained silent and apathetic towards the issue of empowering panches and sarpanches”. Mattu appealed to the panchayat members to vote for PC-nominated candidates, Mohammad Kamaal Malik and Khursheed Ahmed Malik. |
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Pakistan visit: To build consensus, Hurriyat Conference consults traders
Srinagar, November 27 In his interactions with the traders, Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the proposed visit was part of diplomatic and political efforts by the Hurriyat to take forward the views and opinion of people on the Kashmir issue, a Hurriyat spokesman said. The Hurriyat plans to embark on a week-long visit to Pakistan on December 17, but prior to that it is seeking wider consultations with different sections, including traders, lawyers and civil society groups of the state. “While talking to the traders, Mirwaiz said apart from having a political dimension, the Kashmir issue has economic and social dimensions too, which need to be taken into consideration”, the spokesman said while giving details of the meeting, which lasted for over
four hours. “Mirwaiz said the proposed Pakistan visit of Hurriyat is part of that political and diplomatic exercise under which Hurriyat wants that the opinion and aspirations of Kashmiris be heard and understood properly”, he said. “The Hurriyat chairman said keeping in view the changes and trends taking place at the international level, the Hurriyat Conference wants to move
forward under a concerted and concrete strategy and in this regard, the views and opinions of people from different regions of the state can be beneficial”, the spokesman added. |
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Student-industry interface held at KU
Srinagar, November 27 The session was chaired by Prof Shabir A Bhat, Dean, Business School, and coordinated by M Ayub Shah, placement officer. Jani gave a presentation on challenges and prospects for youth in the current economic scenario. She spoke about the scope of entrepreneurship in the state. While addressing the students, she said, “You are gifted with enormous potential and you should carefully choose the tools required to cruise and succeed in the new business environment.” She appreciated the efforts of the Business School for being responsive to the demands of the market and for giving opportunities to students for exploring many impenetrable paths in business education. |
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Handwara residents protest erratic power supply, ‘inflated’ bills
Handwara, November 27 The protesters from villages, including Odoora, Mawar, Shanu, Nowgam, Rachwari, Lawoosa, Bakiakar and Rajwar, raised slogans against the PDD and blocked Handwara-Baramulla road for hours. They alleged that the department had issued “inflated bills” to consumers and they would not pay the bills if the department did not issue revised bills. “Power is playing hide and seek for the past few weeks. To add to our woes, the department has issued inflated bills. We will not pay the tariff if they don’t issue genuine bills,” said Mohd Shaban, a protester. The protesting students placed their school bags on a road near Mawar and Rajwar and did not allow any vehicle to ply on the road. The dismayed consumers said the PDD had hiked the power tariff irrespective of socio-economic status of the people and according to the revised tariff even the poorest of the poor had to pay Rs 315 per month. “A major chunk of people in rural areas are living below the poverty line (BPL) and for them paying Rs 315 every month is simply unaffordable. The PDD should revise the tariff in view of socio-economic conditions of the people and categorise the tariff accordingly,” said Ahmdullah, a farmer. The protesters threatened to snap their power agreements if the ‘inflated’ power bills were not revised. “We will snap the power agreements if the PDD doesn’t issue genuine bills. I have received a bill amounting Rs 19,200 for the past 16 months, which is quite unimaginable,” said Ghulam Mohi-u-din of Bakiakar village, 12 km from Handwara. The protesters were pacified peacefully following assurances from senior PDD officials that their demands would be addressed. Executive Engineer, PDD Handwara division, AR Sofi said due to misuse of power by consumers, the department was forced to make additional cuts in supply to prevent damage to transformers. “Consumers resort to use of room heaters, boilers and cooking heaters during winters. This puts extra load on transformers and to prevent the transformers from damage, we are left with no option but to make additional cuts in power supply,” he said. With regard to inflated bills, he said, “The consumers should make a written representation and we will make corrections wherever necessary.” |
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Regipora traders demand resumption of work on bus stand
Kupwara, November 27 “We are paying huge rents of shops on the Bohipora-Kupwara college road. The importance of shops increased manifold three years ago when the district administration decided to build a bus stand in Regipora. However, it has not been given a final shape to date, resulting in losses to our businesses,” said Farooq Ahmad Shah, a trader. They said the construction work on the bus stand was started in 2010 and suspended for unknown reasons just after few weeks. “The construction work has not been resumed to date and the shopkeepers are bearing the brunt. Our sales have dropped drastically as the market witnesses very few customers,” said Sagar Sheeda Waza, president of the traders association, Regipora, Kupwara. The traders said they were forced to close their shops early in the evening as the flow of customers gets diverted to other major markets in Kupwara. “Due to incomplete bus stand, passengers board the vehicles from the main bus stand in the town. The Regipora bus stand and market wears a deserted look in the evening,” said a trader. Kupwara Deputy Commissioner Sarmad Hafeez said, “The construction work on the bus stand will be resumed in near future. The stand is being built by the Directorate of Urban and Local Bodies and they have already flouted tenders,” he said adding that he has asked director of the construction agency to take a review meeting and resume work on the stand. |
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Protesters block highway for three hours
Srinagar, November 27 Protests were also held at Magam on Srinagar- Gulmarg highway, Hanjiveera Pattan, Kakarpora, Mirchipora, Devar and Baleharan. These protests were held a day after peaceful processions and congregations on the occasion of Ashoora, the 10th day of Muharram (first month of Islamic calendar) held by Shia Muslims in various parts of the Valley. A police spokesman in Srinagar said civil and police administration pacified the protesters and restored the traffic at many places on the national highway. “As the news of alleged desecration spread, the civil and the police administration pacified the protesters who dispersed peacefully,” he said. The civil and the police administration were continuously monitoring the situation. |
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