Jammu, April 21
As part of the strategy to ensure proper drinking water supply during summer, the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department has asked its officers to submit weekly attendance report of the staff posted at water stations in view of the growing incidences of absenteeism.

During the months of April, May, June, July and August, the department always faces a challenge as water supply gets affected due to erratic power supply in the city.

People have been alleging that the staff remains absent from its duties during the most crucial hours. Last year, a huge resentment was witnessed against the department staff with people holding them responsible for the erratic water supply alleging that water stations remain unattended.

Water woes multiply during summer in Jammu city. When power cuts become a routine, the PHE department fails to meet the water demands of residents since they are able to operate the machinery only for a few hours a day in the wake power curtailments and low voltage.

“I have directed the officials to ensure verification of the attendance sheets of all employees who are manning various water supply stations. This is to maintain accountability and also to improve efficiency of service delivery on ground. Any non-compliance will be viewed seriously,” said PHE Minister Sham Lal Sharma.

“It has been found that at times staff who are mostly daily wagers remain absent from the duty which adversely affect the work. Further, power curtailment will be routine now and time for lifting water is just a few hours. This needs to be taken care of,” said an official.

The areas in the city where water scarcity remains acute every summer are Roop Nagar, Janipur, Indira Colony, Buta Nagar, Naseeb Nagar, Ploura, Durga Nagar, Muthi, Ban Talab, New Plot, Sainik Colony, Bathindi, Sunjwan, Narwal and Greater Kailash.

Some of the areas even get water supply on alternate days and that too for shorter durations.

Data reveals that the department provides nearly 42 million gallon daily (MGD) of water to over 13 lakh population in Jammu city. The net requirement of potable water against this population is 45 million gallon daily.

Jammu, April 21
The atmosphere in the city was electrifying as four events- Jammu Marathon, Half Marathon, 12 Kilometre and Run for Fun - today received an overwhelming response from people.

A record number of participants took part in all the events organised by the J&K Police.

The events were flagged off by Minister of State for Home Sajad Ahmad Kitchloo. Also present on the occasion were Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Prasad and other senior police officials.

The minister said the role of sports in physical and mental development of the youth was of great importance. Elaborate security arrangements were made by the administration both in the city and on its outskirts for successful conduct of the mega event.

The 3rd Jammu Marathon (42km) was the first event to start with and it was flagged off from the Police Sports Stadium, Gulshan Ground, at 5.45 am.

The marathon was held in two categories - Civil and Belt Force wherein around 60 participants took part. In Civil category, Ram Raj emerged the winner while Vijay Sharma and Muzaffar Maqbool had to settle for second and third spots respectively. The winner was given a cash prize of Rs 25,000. The other winners in the marathon included Danish, Rashid, Shivanand, Jyoti Saroop, Dlhar Singh and Aijaz Ahmed.

In Belt Force category, Ghulam Mohammad of JAK LI bagged top honours while Riyaz Ahmed and Parshotam Sharma of the J&K Police finished second and third respectively. Ram Niwas of the 9 Rajput Rifles and Udhay Bhan Singh of Sunjuwan Cantt stood fourth and fifth respectively.

The 21-km-long Half Marathon was flagged off at 5.55 am from the same venue in men and women section. More than 500 participants (men and women) took part in the event wherein Anjali Choudhary emerged victorious. Ekta Rani and Poonam had to be contended with second and third positions respectively. Deepika Sadhotra and Mamta Sharma finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The 12-km race for boys and girls in U-17 was flagged off at 6.05 am. A total of 700 participants took part. Kanit Gurang, Abhishek and Neeraj Manhas finished first, second and third respectively. The other nine winners were Azad, Imran Khan, Siddhant Singh, Sahil, Javed Iqbal, Sajjad, Aditya, Sahil Sharma and Hamid Aziz.

The women event started at 6.15 am and it was Jaspreet Kour who had the last laugh. She was followed by Jyoti Devi and Ifra Anjum who secured second and third spot respectively. The other winners included Mahi Sharma, Somya Sharma, Nausheen, Sonali, Arti Bhagat, Kajal Dadwal, Namika, Sakshi Sharma and Sapna Sharma.

The 4-km-long Run for Fun started at 6.30 am and was the most colourful event with a record participation of around 1,200 participants. It witnessed a blend of both young and old. The event started from the Police Auditorium. It passed through Vikram Chowk, Green Belt Park Crossing, Shaurya Motors, Bahu Plaza and finally culminated at the auditorium.

Later on, winners from all categories were awarded cash prizes and certificate of participation by DGP Ashok Prasad who was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. He said the aim behind organising sports events was to develop police-public relations.

Jammu, April 21
Demanding capital punishment for the man who violated and brutalised a five-year-old child in New Delhi, activists of the Shiv Sena and the Dogra Front today held demonstration while asking the government to take strict action against the rising incidents of rape in the country.

The Shiv Sena protesters, led by its president Ashok Gupta, took out a rally from Jewel Chowk to Press Club against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and alleged laxity on part of the authorities in handling the case.

Speaking on the occasion, Gupta said the UPA government had not taken any lesson from the December 13 gang-rape in the national capital which rocked the country.

He said it was a shame for the country, which is one of the ancient civilisations in the world, that girls were not safe here.

“The government makes laws just for the sake of making them, with no intention to stop crimes.

None of the laws are implemented and we see an increasing trend in rape cases in the recent years,” the Shiv Sena president said.

The protesters demanded stringent anti-rape laws and fast track courts to sentence the accused.

The new anti-rape law should include two more provisions for providing death penalty to those who rape children and those who commit heinous and brutal crimes, the Shiv Sena leader said.

Jammu, April, 21
The three-member Sub-Committee constituted by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for assessing the funding requirements for renovation of Abhinav Theatre in Jammu and the Tagore Hall, Srinagar, today visited the prestigious city theatre and inspected the ongoing renovation and repair work.

The Sub-Committee will visit Srinagar on Monday to carry out a similar assessment of the ongoing work at Tagore Hall there.

Comprising noted theatre experts Bansi Koul, MK Raina and Suresh Bhardwaj, the committee was briefed about the project through a Powerpoint presentation. During inspection, the experts sought information on various points which was provided by the project executing agency.

Secretary Academy Khalid Bashir Ahmad, officials of the project executing agency and additional secretaries of the Academy Savita Bakshi and Haroon Rashid were present.

The visit of the newly constituted Sub-Committee comes as a follow-up to the decision taken by the Central government to partly fund the renovation and repair of the two prestigious theatres in the state under the Tagore Cultural Centre scheme.

The release of Central share was linked with the on spot visit of the Sub-Committee to guide the project executing agency. The committee’s visit had been on cards for quite some time now. The Abhinav Theatre and the Tagore Hall renovation projects are estimated at Rs 5.27 crore and Rs. 12.96 crore respectively.

The Sub-Committee is expected to submit its report to the Ministry of Culture by Thursday.

Jammu, April 21
Watermelons have started arriving in the city from Rajasthan and Haryana, mainly Rajasthan.

The fruit, always in demand during the summer months, remains a much sought-after commodity to beat the intense heat.

Watermelons find ready buyers despite the fact that it is priced Rs 25 per kilogram.

Watermelon is an ideal summer fruit as it has high water content and supplements salts like potassium and sodium that are lost due to sweating. It also prevents dehydration, dry skin and headache.

Doctors say watermelon is a healthier alternative as a thirst quencher to aerated drinks which are acidic and contain high levels of sugar.

Rajab Ali, a fruit seller, says, “The next two months are important for our business. We are prepared to meet the demand of local people. The season has started and we are getting the daily supply from Rajasthan.”

“This is a seasonal business and we switch to selling other goods during the rest of the year. I belong to Uttar Pradesh and most of the other sellers are also from outside the state. We are hoping for a good business this year,” he says.

The watermelon sellers are mainly concentrated on the Jammu-Poonch national highway and on the outskirts of the city.

Jammu, April 21
The Army today sensitised members of the Village Defence Committee (VDC) in Bhaderwah in Doda district to security-related issues.

A meeting among members of the VDC and Army was organised at Sitengal village, wherein 35 members from various villages like Sharekhi, Hadal, Sungal, and Kansaru were present at the Army camp of the Rashtriya Rifles.

The aim of the meeting was interaction and discussion over security-related issues with the onset of summer and training of the VDC members.

The Army instructors highlighted the safety and security aspects of the villagers and also briefed on the law and order situation prevalent in the area of responsibility.

The representatives present were explained the importance of coordination and mutual understanding between the security forces, village defence committees and civil administration and its contribution towards furtherance of synergising efforts in the direction of development of the area.

Jammu, April 21
Santosh Singh clinched first position in the U-10 boys’ category today in the 1st Open J&K State Table Soccer Championship being played at Dewan Devi Higher Secondary Achool, Rajpura, here.

Dakshjeet Singh and Vanshveer Singh had to settle for second and third position, respectively, in the same age group.

In the girls’ section, Pranay Mahajan, Trambika Jamwal and Bhavya Jamwal secured first, second and third positions, respectively. In theh U-11 boys’ category, Nikhil Singh bagged top honours, while Anmol Mahajan and Swastika fetched second and third position, respectively.

In the U-12 girls’ event, Tanushka, Mahi and Shivangi claimed first three positions, while in the U-14 boys’ category, Naik Slathia, Jaipal and Vansh Singh secured first, second and third positions, respectively. The matches were officiated by Komal Gupta, Kawaljeet Singh and Ravinder Singh.

Earlier, the tournament was declared open by MLA Chaman Lal Gupta. A total of eight districts are participating in the championship being organised by the J&K Table Soccer Association.

Jammu, April 21
Abhishek Slathia and Pallavi Sharma emerged winners in the boys’ and girls’ sections, respectively, on the concluding day of the Jammu District Sports Climbing Championship held at Sprawling Buds School, Chinore, here today.

Ashish Thakur and Hardev Singh finished second and third, respectively, in the boys’ section, while in the girls’ section, Muskan Abrol and Vaishali Mishra stood second and third, respectively.

In the sub-junior boys’ category, Aman Dogra, Sourabdeep Singh and Aditya Kumar secured first, second and three positions, respectively, while in te sub-junior girls’ section, Shilpa Charak stood first. Second and third positions went to Anshu Pandita and Nitya Sharma, respectively.

In the mini-boys’ category, Ram Narayan, Pragun Khajuria and Sanyam Bhat clinched first, second and three spots, respectively, while in the mini-girls’ category, Poorvi Sharma, Aasma Gul and Nitika Sharma finished first, second and third, respectively.

In the men’s section, Sohrab, Kashif Ahmed and Susheel Sharma secured the first, second and third positions, respectively.

President of the state BJP Jugal Kishore Sharma was the chief guest on the occasion, while Lalit Magotra, president, Dogri Sanstha, was the guest of honour.