Srinagar, March 1
The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has started a week-long anti-encroachment awareness drive across the city as encroachments by shopkeepers continue to cause inconvenience to commuters and pedestrians.

SMC spokesperson Masrat Yousuf said in the first phase, the corporation would only warn the erring shopkeepers. “All the shopkeepers and street vendors will be warned through public addressing system to refrain from encroaching footpaths and roadside for the free flow of traffic regulation and pedestrian movement,” she said.

Once the awareness drive ends, Masrat said the SMC would take strict action by imposing fines and seizing goods of the encroachers. “The drive will continue till all the encroachments in the city are cleared. After the awareness drive ends, all the goods and items displayed outside the shops shall be seized without serving any notice next time,” she said.

She said the anti-encroachment awareness drive was started by the SMC enforcement squad of the corporation yesterday.

The SMC spokesperson said the drive so far had been conducted in several areas of the city, including Batamaloo, Kara Nagar, Hari Singh High Street, Jahangir Chowk, Budshah Chowk, KMD, Gurdav Kadal, Solina, Rambagh, Hyderpora and from Peer Bagh stretch to the Airport road. “The shopkeepers were further directed to clear all the goods displayed outside their shops and unblock the footpaths and other public spaces. The awareness drive will be held in other parts of the city as well,” she added. The anti-encroachment drive is being carried out under the supervision of SMC Enforcement Officers Nisar Ahmed Shah and Ghulam Rasool.

Srinagar, March 1
A white worn-out van having a steel stretcher inside and displaying its emergency status with flashing light and siren is the picture of an ambulance in Kashmir, a conflict hotspot for over two decades.

These vans, called ambulances, transport patients from across the peripheral parts of the Kashmir valley to their district hospitals and, in many cases, carry critical patients from district hospitals to the hospitals in Srinagar city, travelling up to 100 km for around three hours on narrow and jam-packed roads without any life-support system fitted in these vehicles.

These vans or ambulances are in some cases used to transport the dead home from hospitals.

Ambulances in Kashmir are primarily transport vehicles, says a public healthcare official and hospital management expert.

“The ambulances that we have are, in fact, transport vehicles,” the official said.

In Kashmir, thousands have been killed and thousands of others have been injured in the past 23 years of conflict when gun-battles, bomb attacks and other violent incidents were a daily routine, thus increasing the need for sophisticated ambulance service with all life-saving facilities.

When the militancy decreased in the recent years, road accidents became a major factor of unnatural deaths in the region, also highlighting the urgency for modern ambulances.

“There are no life-saving equipment in our vehicles which would have made them critical care ambulances with advanced life support. Also the kind of vehicles which have ordered till now are not patient-friendly,” the official said.

There are only four critical care ambulances in the Valley and only one is available for the common patients.

SMHS Hospital is the only among six Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, associated hospitals which has a critical care ambulance.

“Our ambulances are under a lot of pressure, they are running 24 hours a day. They are hard-pressed and some ambulances are old. We also have one critical care ambulance at SMHS,” said GMC principal Dr Rafiq Pampori.

He said they had already requested the state government to provide two more critical-care ambulances - one for Lal Ded Maternity Hospital and another for Bone and Joints Hospital.

Critical care ambulances are fitted with defibrillator, pulso-meter and vital monitoring equipment, folding stretcher, GPS supported navigation, two-way radio, various life-saving medicines and dedicated paramedic staff. None of these facilities are available in the ambulances which are being used in hospitals across Kashmir.

As a grim landmark of government’s failure to provide proper healthcare facilities, the 104 and 108 ambulance helpline numbers, which were announced by former Health Minister in the state assembly last year, are yet to get operational.

The helpline numbers were meant for 50 ambulances which had been procured under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to be deployed along the national highway, the former Health Minister had said in the Assembly last year.

“Under the NRHM, 179 ambulances have been procured. Of these, 50 ambulances are to be deployed along the national highway for 104 and 108 helpline services”, Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma had stated in the Assembly on March 15 last year.

An automated reply from dialing the two helpline numbers says both are non-existent. The idea of having a river ambulance service, which would have eased the pressure of going through traffic-jammed inter-district roads by using the region’s river, is also yet to float into any shape.

Srinagar, March 1
Main markets remained closed, shops on the outskirts of the city were partially opened and transport services were severely affected as Kashmir remained shut for the 13th day since last month hanging of Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru.

The shutdown had been called by Mutahidda Majlis-e-Mushawarat (joint consultative council) -- an amalgam of several groups, including separatist organizations, both factions of the Hurriyat Conference - to demand the handing over of bodies of Guru and founder of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Muhammad Maqbool Butt.

Guru was hanged in Tihar jail on February 9 this year while Butt was hanged on February 11 in 1984. Both of them remain buried inside the Tihar jail.

For the past 23 years, the years of the armed insurgency, shutdown is being observed on February 11 to demand the return of Butt’s body. The demand has got reinvigorated by the hanging and subsequent burial of Guru in the Tihar jail. Separatists have warned to continue protests till bodies of the two men are returned to their families in Kashmir.

Kashmir remained closed for 13 days after February 9 when Guru was secretly hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar jail after separatists called “hartals” and government imposed curfews.

The Friday shutdown, which had been called by Mutahidda Majlis-e-Mushawarat, formed earlier this week after the moderate faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference objected to the protest programme called by its hardline counterpart and demanded a joint platform for issuing further protest and shutdown ‘calendars’, remained widespread across the region.

Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Asgar Hassan Samoon also convened a video-conference with all the Deputy Commissioners of the Valley to take stock of the law and order situation, here this evening, an official spokesman said.

The Deputy Commissioners informed the Divisional Commissioner that the situation remained peaceful in their respective districts and there was no untoward incident, the spokesman said. Samoon was also informed that attendance in government offices was “satisfactory” and functioned normally.

At Batamaloo inter-district bus terminal, dozens of buses remained parked under the winter sun as only a few passengers arrived through the day. The transport service within the Srinagar city also remained affected as only a few buses plied on the city routes.

Main markets around Lal Chowk, the commercial heartland of Srinagar city, were deserted as all shops remained closed for the day.

However, private cars and cabs were plying smoothly in the city and shops were open in the areas falling on city outskirts.

Protests, some of which turned violent, also erupted at various places in the region. Most of the demonstrations, however, remained peaceful before dispersing off.

In Srinagar city, hundreds of youths clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel near Kawdara locality. The police fired dozens of tear gas shells to disperse the protesters, who threw stones at the police personnel, an eyewitness said.

Another demonstration erupted at Maisuma neighbourhood of the city, which dispersed off peacefully, according to an eyewitness.

Demonstrations were also held in north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Kupwara districts, which were the hometowns of Guru and Butt.

A police spokesman said the situation remained peaceful throughout the Valley today. “A couple of incidents of stone pelting were reported from Khanpora in Baramulla (of north Kashmir) and Kawdara in Srinagar. The police exercised maximum restraint while dealing with the miscreants. There are no reports of injury to anybody so far,” the spokesman said. 

Srinagar, March 1
A family from central Kashmir’s Budgam district has written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking an investigation into the alleged high handedness of the police which they claim led to the death of a 57-year-old government employee.

“We want a thorough probe into the circumstances which led to the death of my father Ghulam Rasool Dar,” wrote Ashiq Ahmed Dar to the NHRC in his complaint. “My father became a victim of the police abuses and we seek registration of an FIR against the police officials who were at the helm and independent commission must be set up to inquire into the circumstances that led to his death,” he added.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Budgam, Uttam Chand said he was not aware of the case.

“But, if the family had approached the NHRC, we will provide all support to the commission for probing the allegations,” Chand said. “However, I will also look into the issue,” he added.

A resident of Najan Beerwah, Ashiq Dar said on February 21, they were summoned by the police at Beerwa police station over a minor clash with a neighbour.

“My father was not present in the house and a police official from Beerwa called the nambadar (village head) and asked him to bring our family to the police station,” he added. “My father, being a respectable resident of the area, went to the police station, but unfortunately the police officials put him behind bars. He was shocked with the approach of the police and fell ill that night. On February 22, he was rushed to a hospital where he complained of chest pain. He was later released,” he added.

The family said Dar was deeply shocked and even he talked to Minister of State for Home Sajjad Kichloo over the phone about the humiliation meted out to him.

“Even though the Minister listened calmly, he did nothing against the police officials and this aggravated his health further. My father was living under constant stress after the release. His helplessness and humiliation mounted so high that he couldn't bear it and died on February 28,” he said.

Dar’s cousin Ghulam Mohammad said the police was responsible for his death.

“There was no case registered against him, but he was not only detained but humiliated that led to his death,” he said.

Beerwa Station House Officer Mohammd Ramzan said a woman panchayat member, Wazeera, had lodged a complaint alleging that Dar's family had assaulted her over some family dispute.

“The woman panch later withdrew her compliant saying that she had settled the issue. Dar was accompanied by over a dozen members from the locality when he came to the police station. We did not detain him for even an hour as the issue was settled by the two parties,” Ramzan said. "Dar died almost a week after the panchayat member had lodged the complaint." 

Srinagar, March 1
With the onset of spring season, the maximum temperature shot up across the Kashmir valley today. The Meteorological office has predicted pleasant weather conditions during the next few days.

The maximum temperature in Srinagar city rose to 13.4 degrees Celsius as compared to 10.3 degrees yesterday, an official of the Meteorological Department said.

Border town Kupwara recorded the warmest day in the Valley at 14.2 degrees Celsius, an increase of 5.7 degrees from yesterday. Similarly, Qazigund, the border town of Kashmir, recorded the maximum temperature at 12.9 degrees Celsius, while tourist resort Pahalgam in south Kashmir saw a high of 8.1 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar and Qazigund recorded the minimum temperature at 0.6 and 1.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. However, Pahalgam and Kupwara recorded sub-zero night temperatures at minus 7.8 and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Ski resort Gulmarg in north Kashmir remained the coldest place in the Valley recording the minimum temperature at minus 9.3 degrees Celsius.

Ladakh region continued to remain in the grip of cold conditions. Kargil recorded the minimum temperature at minus 11.2 degrees Celsius, while Leh saw a low of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius. Kargil and Leh recorded the maximum temperature at 0.6 and 5.0 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The weatherman has predicted dry weather conditions in the Valley in the coming days. Met official said the maximum temperature in Srinagar was expected to remain around 15.0 degrees Celsius tomorrow. The maximum temperature in Jammu was expected to remain around 24 degrees Celsius, he added.

Meanwhile, one-way traffic continued to ply on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, Kashmir’s only surface link to the rest of the country.

Srinagar, March 1
The Enforcement Wing of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) today demolished illegal shops that had come up near the Hyderpora flyover here.

“On receiving information that Nazir Ahmed, a resident of Shah Anwar colony, Hyderpora, has constructed a line of shops illegally adjacent to the flyover at Gulberg Colony byepass, a team headed by Chief Enforcement Officer Hakeem Aijaz rushed to the spot and demolished the illegal structures on the spot,” SMC spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said the team succeeded in demolishing most of the shops despite strong resistance and manhandling by the violator.

“An FIR has been lodged against the miscreants who indulged in restraining the enforcement wing of the SMC from carrying out their duties. The ward officer of the area along with his building inspector has been placed under suspension and they will also be chargesheeted separately,” she added.

Meanwhile, SMC Commissioner Dr GN Qasba made an appeal to the local residents not to violate norms of the master plan and do away with the illegal constructions.

Srinagar, March 1
A team of the Army rescued a group of civilians who were stranded in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on the intervening night of February 27-28.

An Army spokesman said on the night of February 27, information was received that some civilians were stranded on Chowkibal-Tangdhar-Chamkot axis due to continuous snowfall and extremely harsh weather conditions.

“The Quick Action Rescue Team of the Army placed at Nasta Chun Pass immediately sprung into action and launched an operation under heavy snowfall and snow blizzard conditions. Braving all odds and extreme weather conditions, this team after hours of hard work rescued 12 persons stranded along the road,” he said.

“The rescue team provided urgent medical aid, refreshment and food to the rescued civilians,” he said.

Meanwhile, another rescue team from another Army post also reached the location, ensuring that no other stranded civilian was left unattended on this route.

“This team safely brought the civilians to the nearest Army post where further medical attention, food, winter clothing was provided to them. The prompt assistance provided by the Army enabled the civilians to be rescued in time. This effort was highly appreciated by stranded civilians,” he said.

Srinagar, March 1
Even if the winter vacations in the Valley schools and colleges have been extended by the state government under the pretext of cold weather by 10 days, the weather has shown remarkable improvement since Thursday and is expected to remain dry in the days to come.

Schools had to re-open after 2.5 month-long winter break on March 1 which was extended to March 4.

However, the state government delayed the re-opening of schools further by 10 days and the schools have been ordered to resume their class work from March 11 onwards.

An overnight spell of snowfall on Tuesday is believed to have led to the revision of winter vacation schedule.

“A 10-day extension of holidays is unwanted, especially when the Valley schools remain closed due to strikes/ curfews even in summers. All this takes a toll on the quality of education as the teachers have limited time at their disposal for completion of class work,” said Ruheed Gul, a government schoolteacher based in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.

Notwithstanding the official orders, a few private schools in the city and its outskirts have already resumed their class work from March 1 due to the telling effect of the long holidays on the academic work. “We don’t want our students to suffer, especially when this place is unpredictable in terms of the law and order situation. Any calm day should be a working day in schools. The extension of winter vacations by 11 days is unnecessary and we aren’t abiding by it since it leads to shortening of academic calendars and thus more pressure on students,” a private school principal based in Srinagar outskirts, wishing anonymity said. 

Srinagar, March 1
With an aim to improve the future and application of geography in the state, the Department of Geography and Regional Development of Kashmir University (KU) today announced the launch of Jammu and Kashmir Geographers Association (JKGA) on the concluding day of the six-day seminar-cum-workshop on the “Application of Remote sensing, GIS and GPS in Resource Management”.

Faculty members of the PG Department of Geography, teachers of different colleges of the Valley and research scholars would be the members of the JK Geographers Association which has been formulated to meet the challenges faced by the geographers from time to time and help broaden the scope of the subject across the state.

Presiding over the valedictory function of a six-day seminar as the chief guest, University of Kashmir Registrar Prof ZA Reshi appreciated the Department of Geography for taking the big and fast leap of development at all academic fronts in a very short span of few years.

Asserting that the KU has to be on the research mode, the Registrar asked the department faculty to lay more emphasis on the research. “The department should focus on doing more research in the subject according to the international standards and improve the periodicity and quality of journals to get more recognition at the national and international level,” Prof Reshi said.

He also stressed the need for adoption of technologies like Global Information System(GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) by the scholars and students as research tools .

Earlier Prof Sultan Bhat, Head, Department of Geography said the department would soon organise an annual summer training camp to improve the teaching, research skills and the application of the latest technologies for geography teachers and research scholars across the state.

Throughout the workshop, the scientists presented deliberations on various operational and experimental applications of the Spatial Information Technology.

They addressed factual findings pertaining to various aspects of resource management based on the data obtained by earth observation satellites, Satellite Navigation System and GIS analysis. Practical sessions were conducted throughout the week aiming to provide hands on training of this technology.

Participants were given practical training inputs on processing of remote sensing satellite data, image interpretation, data analysis in various GIS software packages and cad-astral mapping using global positioning. 

Srinagar, March 1
As a part of the initiative to provide exposure to cricketers from the Valley, the Kashmir Premier League (KPL)-12 Champions—Srinagar Shahjahan, who are on a tour to Kolkata, met former Indian captain Saurav Ganguly.

An Army spokesman said the team as a part of national integration tour embarked on the memorable journey on February 22 and after reaching Kolkata, it visited almost all the places of cultural and tourists interest in and around the city. 

“On the cricketing front these budding cricketers had the honour of playing two matches at Eden Gardens ‘the mecca of  cricket in India’,” the spokesman said.

Srinagar, March 1
A woman died during a clash between two families in the old city area here, the police today said.

The woman, identified as Saja Begum, a resident of Bakshipora-Noorbagh, died in a clash between the two families over some dispute, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said the police had registered a case and started investigation into the issue.