Srinagar, January 18
Srinagar city recorded the coldest day of the season so far as the maximum temperature here rose less than two degrees above the freezing point.

The maximum day temperature in the city, which has been covered with a blanket of snow, was recorded at 1.8 degrees Celsius, an official of the state Meteorological Department said.

This is the lowest day temperature recorded in the city so far this season, which is nearly four degrees down from the average and bypassed the earlier low of 3.5 degrees Celsius recorded on January 12.

Mercury overnight in the city had fallen to a low of 0.2 degrees Celsius, the official said.

In the frontier Kupwara town in north Kashmir, the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 2.4 degrees Celsius while the maximum there was recorded at 1.2 degrees Celsius.

The skiing resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, which is enveloped in five-foot snow, recorded a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, the official said.

At Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir, the mercury overnight fell to minus 2 degrees Celsius while the day temperature there was recorded at a maximum of 0.1 degrees Celsius, the official said.

In Leh town of remote and snow-bound Ladakh region, the minimum temperature fell to minus 6 degrees Celsius while the day temperature there rose to a maximum of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

The day temperature in Kargil district of Ladakh was recorded at the maximum zero degree Celsius while the night temperature there fell to minus 8.4 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Srinagar, January 18
The dome of the revered Kheer Bhawani shrine at Tulmulla in Ganderbal district got partially damaged after a tree trunk fell on it, following snowfall in the area.

Eyewitnesses said a trunk of a Chinar tree, on the shrine premises, fell on the dome of the temple after which it developed a crack.

Soon after the incident, a team of the J&K Dharmath Trust, which looks after the shrine, visited Tulmulla to asses the damages caused.

Joint Secretary of the trust confirmed that the dome of the shrine had developed a big crack. However, he said the idols were safe and no other damage was caused.

“The tree trunk also brought down the electric poles near the shrine but the idols are safe and no other major damage has been reported,” he said.

Lok Janshakti Party (Yuva) national president Sanjay Saraf said the local Kashmir Pandits community had been assured by the officials of the Ganderbal district administration that the repair work would be done at the earliest.

Saraf said he would lead a team of local members of the community to the shrine tomorrow to take stock of the situation.

The revered shrine at Tulmulla is thronged by devotees, especially during the Kheer Bhawani festival that marks the birth anniversary of Goddess Ragneya Devi. The temple of Kheer Bhawani was built by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1912.

The shrine is famous, especially because of a spring on its premises. Devotees believe that the colour of the spring-water at the shrine during the Kheer Bhawani festival gives an indication of future days ahead. They believe that if the colour of the shrine turns pink or reddish, it does not augur well for the future. Devotees say that before the migration of the Pandits from Kashmir, the colour of the spring had turned completely black in 1990.

Kheer Bhawani is considered to be the presiding deity of most of the Kashmiri Brahmans and a mela at the shrine is held on the eighth day of the full moon in the month of May/June.

Srinagar, January 18
Despite inclement weather conditions, the 347th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh was celebrated with traditional fervour across the Kashmir valley.

Members of the Sikh community were seen thronging the gurdwaras in the morning hours amid moderate to heavy snowfall at many places. The largest Gurpurb celebrations were held at gurdwara Chatti Padshahi - a white marbled shrine located in Rainawari area of the city.

Manjeet Singh, a local devotee, said the main celebrations in the Valley are held at Rainawari and at Chatti Padshahi gurdwara at Baramulla in north Kashmir.

Chatti Padshahi gurdwaras at Rainawari and Baramulla have got historical significance for the Sikhs of Kashmir.

As per the devotees, sixth guru of Sikhs Guru Hargobind Sahib had visited the Rainawari gurudwara during the Mughal period. He is also believed to have visited the Chatti Padshahi gurdwara at Baramulla.

Manjit said the devotees celebrated Gurpurb by holding shabad kirtan and langar (community kitchens) across the gurdwaras.

"We celebrate the day as Gurpurb along with the rest of the country by holding shabad kirtan. Besides prayers, light is thrown on the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh. The gurubanis of the 10th guru are also recited. Community kitchens were also organised at all the gurdwaras,” he said.

Singh said the snowfall failed to dampen the traditional fervour that marked Gurpurb celebrations in Kashmir.

“Devotees prayed at gurdwaras in good numbers despite inclement weather,” he added.

Srinagar, January 18
The Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla, Ghulam Ahmad Khawaja, accompanied by a team of officers today visited various areas of the district and took stock of situation arisen after fresh snowfall.

During the visit, he was informed that 31 snow-clearing machines had been pressed into service, which includes deployment of eight machines at the tourist resort in Gulmarg. He was informed that all major roads have been connected with the district headquarters after snow clearance, an official spokesman said.

The Deputy Commissioner also visited District Hospital Baramulla and enquired from patients about the facilities being provided to them by the hospital administration.

He directed the officers concerned to make proper heating arrangements besides improving power supply in the hospitals. He also visited Boniyar Uri for taking stock of losses occurred due to current snowfall.

Meanwhile, Budgam Deputy Commissioner Khurshid Ahmad Shah also reviewed the aftermath situation of current snowfall at Budgam. He was informed that snow has been cleared from all major roads of the district and communication has been restored to all tehsil headquarters, including Chrar-e-Sharif, Chadoora, Khansahib, Khag and Beerwah. He was informed that power and water supply had been restored in all towns of the district.

Srinagar, January 18
Moderate separatist group chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said tension along the Line of Control (LoC) would continue until the Kashmir issue is resolved.

“Until the Kashmir issue is resolved, the tensions at border will not decrease,” Mirwaiz said addressing a gathering at city’s Jamia Masjid here today.

The moderate separatist leader’s comments came with a background of recent flare up on the Line of Control between the Indian and Pakistan Armies in which several soldiers on both the sides were killed.

Mirwaiz, who heads a faction of separatist of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), termed the Kashmir issue as a basic reason for tension between India and Pakistan.

Mirwaiz asked the international community to immediately take into consideration the deterioration of human rights in Kashmir.

He criticised the state government for failing at all the levels.

Srinagar, January 18
As a part of the nationwide sixth Economic Census 2012-13, the training for the enumerators and supervisors to undertake the exercise, is being conducted in various districts of the Kashmir valley from tomorrow.

An official spokesman said the preparations for the Census were reviewed by the District Development Commissioners of Pulwama, Budgam and Ganderbal in separate meetings with the officers concerned at the respective headquarters yesterday.

“The Economic Census in Pulwama district begins from January 28,” said the spokesman. It was decided that the training to enumerators and supervisors engaged for Pampore, Awantipora and urban Pulwama tehsils would be imparted on January 23 and 24 in the meeting hall of the administrative complex, Pulwama.

“It was informed that the Census in 1,113 enumeration blocks, for which manpower of 452 employees is required, have been drawn from the Education, Rural Development, DIC and Planning Department,” he said.

The Economic Census is held after every five years across the country to ensure evaluation of all economic activities by the departments concerned.

It is a complete count of all the establishment and units located in the district. The data prepared by the Census is required for planning and to access the contribution of various sectors of the economy, which in turn helps in country's future economic planning.

Meanwhile, a district-level meeting of steering-cum-monitoring committee for conducting the Census shall begin from January 19 to January 31 in Budgam district.

The Economic Census is held after every five years across the country to ensure evaluation of all economic activities by the departments concerned. It is a complete count of all the establishment and units located in the district. The data prepared by the Census is required for planning and to access the contribution of various sectors of the economy, which in turn helps in country's future economic planning.

Srinagar, January 18
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Hassan Samoon today conducted an extensive tour of the Srinagar city and took stock of situation after the current spell of snowfall, an official spokesman said.

Samoon was accompanied by Baseer Ahmad Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, chief engineers of various disciplines, joint director, Information, Kashmir, and a team of divisional-level officers and engineers during the tour.

Divisional Commissioner visited the power control room at the Grid Station, Bemina, and reviewed the situation of power supply in the city and other districts of the Valley, the spokesman said.

The chief engineer electric maintenance informed the Divisional Commissioner that 40 per cent of the power supply had been restored in the Srinagar city while the restoration process was in process in other areas of the city, the spokesman said.

The Divisional Commissioner was also informed that restoration work of power supply in hilly and far-off areas like Shopian, Damhal, Hanjipora and Gulmarg was in progress and power supply would be restored by tomorrow.

Chief engineer Shafat Ahmad Chishti apprised the Divisional Commissioner that mechanised snow clearance operation was started today throughout the Valley.

The chief engineer said 100 snow cutter machines were pressed into service and all the important inter-district, inter-town roads, including the internal roads of cities and towns, besides roads leading to important installations like hospitals, PHE and PDD were cleared on priority before 7.30 am today.

Samoon was also informed that 29 dewatering pump sets had been put into service by the Irrigation Department in the Srinagar city while as Municipal Corporation have also put their men and machinery to service for dewatering in low-lying areas of the Srinagar city.

The Divisional Commissioner, while reviewing the position of essentials supplies, was informed that buffer stock of ration, LPG and other eatables were available at various outlets of the CAPD.

Srinagar, January 18
A group psycho-therapeutic session was held at the state police drug de-addiction centre, here today.

Despite of harsh weather, the participants came out in large numbers, the police spokesman said.

A brainstorming group psycho-therapeutic session was held for the patients, who were admitted in the police drug de-addiction centre, the spokesman said.

The session was presided over by Sunil Gupta, Superintendent of Police, Srinagar West, who shared his personal experience, empathised with the suffering population and directed the group to explore the possibilities of the solution to the problem.

He emphasised upon fighting the stigma about drug abuse, changing attitude and role of society as an institution for change, the spokesman said.

Kupwara, January 18
Patients and attendants are suffering a lot of problems at the Sub District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara due to power failure since last evening. The main source of alternative power supply - solar plant - is also not functional for the past six weeks, making the matters worse.

Hospital staff said the functioning of hospital, especially the operating theatre, X-ray and ultra sonography (USG) units, have been badly hit due to power failure since last evening. They said power supply to the hospital went off around 9 pm yesterday and it has not been restored since then.

“We are making using of generator to supply power to the entire hospital but it has proved insufficient. The functioning of important units, including operating theatre, X-ray and USG, has been badly hit due to power failure,” said a senior employee working in the X-ray section of the hospital.

The attendants said they were facing a lot of difficulties in getting tests like X-ray done due to interrupted power supply to the hospital. “The power supply to the X-ray plant goes off at regular intervals probably due to extra load. The employees have to start generator time and again to supply power to the X-ray plant. I am waiting for getting the X-ray done for the past one hour,” said Shabir Ahmad, a patient from Batergam, 4 km from Kupwara.

Unlike other major hospitals in the Valley, the Kupwara hospital, which witnesses a huge rush of patients, is devoid of essential power supply service (24 hours supply) and it gets the supply according to the curtailment schedule of the Power Development Department (PDD) in the district.

Kupwara Deputy Commissioner Sarmad Hafeez, who visited the hospital today told The Tribune that “The hospital management has been asked to make use of a generator and inverter to ensure power supply to the hospital. Patient care should not be affected in any circumstances. The power department is repairing 132 KV line near Pattan and hopefully the supply to the entire district, including the hospital, will be restored till evening.”

Many other attendants complained that the power outages caused due to failure of solar plant have become a routine at the hospital. They demanded that the solar plant be made functional at the earliest.

“We are facing inordinate delays in getting the tests like X-ray and USG conducted at the hospital due to the non-functioning of solar plant. We have to wait for hours to get the tests done as machines go off due to power outages,” said an attendant of remote Hayhama village.

Kupwara chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Ab Majid Wani said in spite of difficulties, the management was sparing no efforts to ensure good patient care. “We have already requested the department concerned to carry out necessary work and make the plant functional at the earliest. We are making every effort to ensure that the patient care is not affected,” he said.