Jammu, June 14
Despite paying nearly Rs 100 crore annually as power tariff to the Power Development Department (PDD), dismal condition of electricity infrastructure is hitting production hard at Bari Brahmana industrial estate, on the city’s outskirts.

Manufacturers say unscheduled power cuts in the industrial estate, which has been metered by the department, are causing them losses, affecting staff wages, repayment of loans to banks, resulting in depreciation of machinery and lower productivity.

Though the state government is upbeat over the announcement of nearly Rs 200 crore industrial package by the Centre, manufacturers and industrialists who have units in the area feel there cannot be industrial growth till the state invests in enhanced power supply and modernisation of the distribution network.

Sources said the problem is further aggravated by the fact that there is non-availability of maintenance staff at sub-division Bari Brahmana under the Executive Engineer of Vijaypur division.

Bari Brahmana Industrial Association (BBIA) president Anil Suri said, “PDD recovers Rs 100 crore as power tariff from the area and if they invest one per cent of it, they could help in saving the industry. But nothing has been done.”

He alleged that the systems and operation wing of the PDD is adopting delaying tactics for granting sanction of power load despite the fact that adequate load capacity is available at the 50X2 MVA station at Bari Brahmana.

Sources said the matter relating to urgent requirement of funds for replacement of damaged panels of the grid stations at Bari Brahmana was highlighted in the Industrial Advisory Committee meeting held on July 24, 2012, in which, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had issued orders for provision of sufficient funds for improvement of grid stations, but till date, not even a penny has been spent.

“The dismal power scenario has hit the industry badly across Jammu region, mainly industrial hubs at Samba, Bari-Brahmana, Digiana, Gangyal and Udhampur. It has affected the production capacity, and in turn, the confidence of investors,” said Yashpaul Sharma, president, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

The PDD Chief Engineer Sehnaz Goni said the department has already started the modernisation process under various centrally sponsored schemes.

“Everything takes time. Due to our efforts, there is a lot of improvement in the power infrastructure. Things will be better in the coming years,” said Goni. 

Jammu, June 15
Jammu woke up to a pleasant Saturday morning after a heavy early morning heavy downpour drenched and cooled the city. According to the Met office, about 7 mm of rainfall was recorded during the day, which brought down the temperature by 4 degrees, with temperature recorded as 27 degree Celsius.

At many places, people came out of their homes to enjoy the rainfall as for the past few days, the weather was quite sultry, while frequent power cuts have been making life miserable for people already reeling under hot weather conditions.

Reports say rains also lashed tourist resorts of Patnitop, Saransar, Mansar and the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.

The rains, which are being termed as pre-monsoon showers, have set off a wave of happiness among the farmers. They say the pre-monsoon showers are good during the ongoing sowing period of Kharif crop. “It was surprisingly cool for the entire day today. Hope such conditions prevail for more days as heat makes it difficult to do any kind of work,” said university student Meenu Sangral.

“We hope monsoon makes it early this year and provides much-needed relief to people from hot weather conditions,” said Rahul Sharma, a government employee.

In several parts of the city, rainfall exposed the poor drainage system of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) as many roads were flooded with water, causing problems for commuters.

Rajouri, June 15
The District Hospital Rajouri is once again facing acute shortage of blood. The blood bank of the hospital is left with only 10 to 12 units of blood.

And there is a decreasing number of donors coming forward. Even though many camps have been organised by the district administration, Army and other organisations in the past, unfortunately, local people of the area are either unaware of this or are ignorant about blood donation. Hardly any donor came forward, resulting in failure of these camps.

No awareness or blood donation camp was organised on ‘World Blood Donors Day’ in the entire district. The day was observed worldwide to raise blood in blood banks and create awareness among masses about blood donation.

A senior officer at the health department, Rajouri, expressed serious concern over the crisis in blood shortage being faced by the Rajouri hospital, where hardly a few units of blood are left.

“The hills being accident-prone, we need stock of blood all the time, but what can we
do when nobody is willing to donate blood?” he expressed. He raised question marks over misuse of blood from the blood bank by hospital staff which needs to be checked.

Newly appointed Superintendent of District Hospital Rajouri, Arun Sharma, said he is personally monitoring the situation and formulating new strategies to raise awareness among locals for them to donate more and more blood. “In the coming days, we would be organising awareness camps here to attract people’s attention to blood donation,” he added. District Development Commissioner Faqir Chand Bhagat assured personal attention for monitoring of the system.

Batote, June 15
The Government Higher Secondary School, Batote, is facing he problem of staff crunch ever since March, the Principal, two teachers, a PEM and a laboratory bearer of the school were shifted to the District Institute of Education and Trainings (DIET), Banihal.

“We are already lagging behind in our math and doubt if it will be completed now. Due to this, we could not do well in our first unit test and now we have to give T-1 tests in July,” said Mohd Asrar of class XII.

Following an inquiry into the allegation of discrepancy in the Class XII results (declared on January 20) and exchange of money between the staffers and the examinees on the complaint of one of the failed boys, Sajid Ahmed Parrey, the then Director, School Education, Dev Lata Sharma, had attached the five accused staffers, including Principal Bimal Rai, lecturers Virender Pal Singh (math) and Jagtar Singh (history), PEM Joginderpal Gupta and laboratory bearer Shabir Ahmed Sheikh, to the District Institute of Education and Trainings (DIET), Banihal, on the preliminary report of Ramban Chief Education Officer VK Soni.

Not satisfied with the inquiry, Sajid’s father, Naseer Ahmed, had gone to then Ramban DC SA Bhat along with the five blank answer sheets, reportedly found from the back of the school building, and pleaded for a discreet inquiry by a senior officer.

“The then inquiry officer, the ADDC, Inderjit Singh, had forwarded his enquiry report to the Director, Education. Since the transfer of Dev Lata, nobody has been posted permanently here as Director, so the final decision is awaited,” said Soni.

“Ravinder Singh and Shakil Ahmed have been deputed for the census duty and Usha is on a long sick leave. Students are the worst-hit and it is also affecting school discipline,” said in-charge Principal Rakesh Chand.

“Since both the lecturers and the lab bearer are not facing serious allegations, o the recommendation of the Ramban DC, the Education Commissioner has ordered to detach them and send them to Batote to resume their duties,” said Soni.

“There is no formal written order of detachment for these three staffers. It appears to be eyewash and a temporary action,” said district president of the Youth Congress Committee Rashid Malik.

These three teachers have been exonerated of their charges, while as the inquiry is still pending against the other two, there will be a formal order within a day or two,” said the DC.

Jammu, June 15
National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) president Subash Shastri today expressed concern over the continuance of pay anomalies of clerical cadre of the state government. He also urged the Chief Minister to immediately address the issue.

Addressing a meeting of NMC activists, Shastri said the clerical cadre of the state was a pillar of the administrative sector and its problems should be solved.

“The state government has already removed pay anomalies of various cadre but it has not done the same for the clerical cadre. As a goodwill gesture, government should take an early decision in this regard,” he said.

Laying emphasis on the formulation of a national pay policy throughout the country, Shastri demanded early setting up of the 7th pay commission, which would cover both central and state government employees.

Shastri pointed out that the delay in constituting the 7th pay commission was causing confusion in the minds of the employees and pensioners.

Pleading the cause of both Centre and state government employees and pensioners, Shastri said till the new pay commission was constituted and its recommendations implemented, 50 per cent DA be merged with the basic pay/pension and interim relief of 20 per cent of the basic pay/pension be provided to the employees and pensioners. 

other demands

* Formulation of a national pay policy throughout the country,

* Early setting up of the 7th pay commission

Jammu, June 15
Taking a dig at the state government for its failure to clear the pending work, members of the Jammu and Kashmir Contractors Coordination Committee (JKCCC) today threatened to stop all ongoing development works across Jammu if the government did not clear the liability of about Rs 700 crore.

“Many of our contractors have taken loans from moneylenders as well as from the financial institutions on hefty interest rates and with the dilly-dallying approach of the government in clearing our dues, we are forced to pay the interests that has now reached the principle amount of loan,” general secretary of the JKCCC Balvinder Singh said.

Demanding immediate release of the claims along with interest, he said, “Why should the contractors bear the loss caused due to negligence of engineers and politicians who force them to complete work even without arranging the required funds in advance?”

He said even though Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had introduced the E-tendering system, which was also welcomed by the committee, contractors’ hopes were shattered when he allegedly failed to mention the time frame for their payments after the completion of the work.

“In addition to the problems being faced by the contractors, the government introduced the new civil system of accounting which further added to their miseries,” he said and criticised the way the government had switched over to the new system without doing its home work and without consulting the stakeholders.

He urged the government to give a one-time exemption to all works executed before March 31. He said the government should issue strict warnings not only to the engineers to not start the work without getting it sanctioned from the competent authority, but also direct all the cabinet ministers, MLAs and MLCs not to lay the foundation stone of any unapproved work in future. 

Jammu, June 15
The Ashram Shaheed Sant Bhai Deva Singh Ji Committee today constituted a new managing body here. A meeting of the Dashmesh Nagar and Ajeet Nagar area sangats was held under the chairmanship of newly elected president of the ashram Gurcharan Singh.

A resolution passed later endorsed the new committee. Those elected include Aya Singh Baghi (manager), Sulakhan Singh (vice-president), Jarnail Singh (vice president), Manjeet Singh Raina (storekeeper) and Bhai Ravinder Singh (secretary). Members include Ravinder Singh, Santokh Singh, Tarlok Singh and Gurdeep Singh. 

Jammu, June 15
An educational-cum-motivational tour for girl students was today flagged off by the General Officer Commanding, Counter Insurgency Force (Uniform), from Reasi. The tour has been organised by the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, based in Bagga, under the ongoing 'Operation Sadbhavana'. Twenty students of Mahore tehsil are part of the group.

The 10-day tour would give an opportunity to these students to visit Bangalore and Chennai where they will visit many places, including the Infosys campus.

The aim of the tour is to give exposure to the young girls about varied developments taking place in other region of the country and to introduce them to a plethora of cultures, people and landscapes of the nation.

The students will also get an opportunity to interact with the students and teaching staff of prestigious schools and colleges of Bangalore and Chennai. 

Batote, June 15
Minutes before the opening of the school and about three hours before the expected visit of the president, Indian National Youth Congress, Rahul Gandhi at Bhaderwah, the home town of the Union Health Minister, GN Azad, a wall of the Biology Laboratory and a portion of a boundary wall of Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School had collapsed following a mild tremor at about 7.45 am today.

According to Ajit Kotwal, principal of the school, just about 15 minutes before the classes of the Government Girls Higher Secondary School (GGHSS) were to be started at 8 am, a major portion of the wall of the Biology laboratory and a portion of the school boundary wall in front of the office of the principal had collapsed following a tremor at 7.45 am today. According to him, some of the girl students had already arrived there - a tragedy was averted.

Following damage to the GGHSS building, students attended their classes in the morning shift in the GBHSS building from 8 am to 12.30 pm and the students of the GBHSS attended their classes in the afternoon shift from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Rahul Gandhi, who was expected to reach Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar today alongwith GN Azad, Union Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, MP, Ch Lal Singh and others, had to cancel his programme due to the inclement weather and had returned after visiting only the Kashmir valley.

According to Kotwal, nobody was injured in the wall collapse. 

Anantnag, June 15
With no streetlights installed on the Khannabal-Pahalgam (KP) road in Anantnag, it is becoming tough for the commuters to ply the road during night.

Being an important route during the tourist season and the Amarnath Yatra, the KP road witnesses a huge traffic inflow round-the-clock. The irony, however, is that most of the parts of this 45-km-long road have been left without any streelights.

“I ferry tourists to and fro Pahalgam more than three times a week. I mostly travel at night and even though I drive cautiously, the chances of mishap are high. The absence of lights can be life threatening, especially when it rains,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a driver.

Local commuters blame the district administration for not listening to their repeated requests.

“The accident on Thursday night, which claimed four lives, should be enough for the authorities to wake up from its slumber and do something about the issue,” said Sajad Ahmad, who runs a hotel in Pahalgam. Four youths were killed in a road mishap near Nunwan on the KP road on Thursday night.

While the authorities maintained that the slippery road after rains had caused the accident, the locals blame it on the absence of lights on the road.

“Let alone the lights, there are not even reflective sigh boards anywhere on the road,” said a local resident, adding that even the small illuminated stretches along the road had their lights defunct.

Anantnag Deputy Commissioner Farooq Lone said a proposal for the lighting of the road was already in the pipeline and it would be implemented soon. 

Rajouri, June 15
Police today busted a gang of bike-lifters in the heart of the city in border district Rajouri and arrested a person along with a bike.

Haroon Rashid, son of Abdul Rashid from ward number 4 of district Rajouri, was held with a lifted bike on a tip-off, said reports.— OC