Srinagar, October 15
The Valley is all set to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha tomorrow with traditional fervour and gaiety. People in Kashmir usually observe Eid-ul-Azha for three days and the festival begins with congregational prayers in the morning. However, holidays are officially observed for the first two days of the festival.

A huge rush of shoppers was witnessed at marketplaces across the city. People were seen buying sacrificial animals, bakery and other goods.

As Eid prayers are held in all mosques and shrines of the Valley on the occasion, the largest congregation will be held at the revered Hazratbal shrine on the banks of Dal Lake and historic Jama Masjid.

Eid prayers at the Hazratbal shrine and Jama Masjid are scheduled to be held at 10.30 am and 10 am, respectively.

After the prayers, people usually sacrifice cattle to honour Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son before Allah. Later, sacrificial meat is distributed among the kith and kin besides the needy. Eid greetings are also exchanged while ‘eidi’ is distributed among children.

People cook a whole lot of non-vegetarian delicacies on Eid and households remain stocked with meat for over a week following sacrificing of cattle.

Many families also order ‘wazwan’, traditional Kashmiri food, on the occasion.

Many locals also visit graveyards after the morning prayers.

The practice of burst firecrackers, which had stopped when militancy was at its peak, has seen a comeback in the past few years. 

Anantnag, October 15
Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, messy traffic jams were witnessed in many parts of the south Kashmir region today.

Reports said the traffic remained halted in major towns of the region and their peripheries for hours at a stretch. People were subjected to an undue delay while the authorities failed to regulate the traffic effectively.

“People remained stuck at various places, including the Lal Chowk area, Anantnag-Achabal road, Khannabal Pahalgam road, Janglat Mandi area and many other places,” reports said.

Commuters said they had ventured out to shop for Eid. However, they had to return home without buying anything.

People remained stuck near Bijbehara, along the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, for several hours.

“The traffic jam affected the movement on the national highway while forcing drivers to take alternate routes,” said a commuter.

He said the drivers taking alternate routes created traffic mess in the interiors as well.

In Kulgam town, shoppers from different parts of the district failed to reach the main town as long queues of vehicles were seen stuck on different entry routes.

“The worst affected remained the New Hospital road. The road is already congested and extra rush is caused during festivals,” said a Kulgam resident.

He said patients trying to reach the hospital were subjected to unnecessary hassle.

Similar scenes, the reports said, were witnessed in other parts of the region as well, including Pulwama and Shopian towns.

The shoppers were agitated at the administration’s utter failure to regulate traffic.

Srinagar, October 15
Online mobile phone applications like Whatsapp, Black Berry Messenger, Viber, Skype and Line have come to replace the traditional Eid greeting methods in the Valley like greeting cards or even emails.

Bidding a farewell to the time-consuming buying and sending of paper-greeting cards or even emails, the Valley youth are showing inclination towards instant message services to wish their dear ones a happy Eid.

“Gone are the days when people would go out to search for paper-greeting cards or letters. Even emails are becoming a tedious process to engage in. Online message apps are certainly more user friendly and less time consuming,” Shakir Syed, a student, said.

Ironically, connecting online is now being preferred over visiting each other. “Technology has influenced the spirit of celebration. People these days seldom realise that paying a visit to your relatives means so much more than sending a text message or an email,” Illyas Wali, an academician, said. —TNS

Srinagar, October 15
Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies Nawang Rigzin Jora today ordered for time-bound conservation and restoration of the Brari Nambal lagoon.

The lagoon, in the past, was facilitating regulation of Dal waters, which has now been marred by extensive pollution and obnoxious weeds. The stagnation of its waters has affected the health of the Dal Lake.

Speaking at a joint meeting of the officials of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), Urban Environment Engineering Department (UEED) and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) in Civil Secretariat Srinagar, the minister made it clear that the Brari Nambal lagoon was an important water body within the old city, adding that there should be no compromise on its restoration.

“The Brari Nambal water body has both historical as well as heritage value and requires to be restored to its pristine glory,” Jora asserted. He directed the authorities to immediately clean, expand and beautify the Brari Nambal lagoon.

The minister asked the engineers and officials of the LAWDA, UEED and SMC to make joint efforts to immediately check the flow of sewage and drainage into the lagoon. He also asked the engineers and officials concerned to connect the lagoon with a sewerage treatment plant (STP) of the UEED located at Brari Nambal.

He directed the UEED to ensure cleaning of all the blocked sewer and drainage lines within 10 days. He also ordered connecting all sewer lines and drains with the STP within 15 days. In this connection, he directed the officials to make the STP of the UEED fully operational.

The Chief Engineer, UEED, said 75 per cent work on the restoration of their STP at Brari Nambal has been completed and it would take another one month to restore it fully.

The minister directed the LAWDA to start dredging and cleaning of the Brari Nambal lagoon soon after the UEED connects the sewer lines and drains with their STP within the next 15 days. The Vice-Chairman, LAWDA, Irfan Yaseen, Chief Engineer, UEED, Mohammad Hanief, Superintending Engineer and Executive Engineers of LAWDA were present at the meeting.

Kupwara, October 15
Some unscrupulous people living close to forests have resorted to encroachment of forest land in Kupwara. The villages that have witnessed encroachment include Hayhama, Gulgam, Batpora, Rajwar, Mawar Chowkibal and Dardpora.

Reports said villagers living close to forest areas had resorted to encroachment and the Forest

Department had failed to keep a check on it. “These people have raised temporary sheds and also cultivated forest land for maize. Some have planted poplar and other trees on forest land and have also fenced the area illegally,” said a resident of Batpora village. “We informed the forest division concerned about the illegal encroachments, but no action has been taken against the erring persons. It is everybody’s moral duty to protect forests,” he added.

Reports said in a few areas of Handwara tehsil, including Rajwar and Mawar, some persons have resorted to encroachment of forest land and planted dozens of trees. “In the absence of effective monitoring by the department, the forest land has been encroached upon at many places in Rajwar and Mawar. I am convinced that this illegal activity is taking place in connivance with some forest officials. The department is aware of the encroachments but is doing nothing to stop it,” said a Rajwar resident.

Mohd Aslam, a Bakiakar Handwara resident, said the encroachment of forest land was going on unabated in his village and Wadipora. “It appears that the Forest Department exists only on paper. Besides curbing timber smuggling, stopping encroachments on the forest land is a responsibility of the Forest Department. If the illegal practice was not stopped at the earliest, a vast forest area will be grabbed by unscrupulous people in the next few years,” said Aslam.

A senior forest official said stern action would be taken against the people found guilty of encroachment. 

Kupwara, October 15
Residents of Sulkoote near Kupwara are facing a severe shortage of water for the past three weeks. They said the water supply to the village has been snapped for unknown reasons and they were suffering from acute shortage of water.

They threatened to take to streets if the water supply was not restored at the earliest. They said in the absence of drinking water, they were forced to fetch contaminated water from a nearby nullah.

“Sometimes tankers sent by the department supply contaminated water. There is a chance of an outbreak of cholera and jaundice due to the consumption of contaminated water. Despite many requests, the PHE division Kupwara has not done anything,” said Shameema Bano, a local resident.

The locals appealed the PHE division to restore the supply. They demanded that water tankers round the clock be provided to them till the supply is restored to the villages.

Amina Begum said, “We are forced to collect contaminated water from a nearby nullah, which has led to the outbreak of gastroenteritis disease. The water division should restore the supply to normal at the earliest.”

A senior PHE official said, “We will press more tankers to ensure sufficient supply to the village. The supply will be restored to normal within a few days.” 

Srinagar, October 15
The Kashmir Bar Association has urged the Srinagar Central Jail authorities to follow the jail manual in letter and spirit and adhere to the directions given by the J&K High Court in this regard.

The Bar team visited the Central Jail on Monday, during which it interacted with the prisoners, under trials and the jail staff, Bar General Secretary M Ashraf Bhat said in a statement here.

"The inmates wanted that their grievances should be redressed and whatever is provided in the jail manual should be provided to them so that they could sustain themselves in these adverse conditions," Ashraf said.

"The Jail Superintendent informed the Bar team that he was spending Rs 80 on each detenue, but he admitted that the government had not issued any order as yet and he was doing the same on his own," the Bar said in its report.

"The detenues, however, stated that no such facilities were available at the Central Jail and the provisions of the jail manual were being observed in breach and have virtually being reduced to farce by the jail authorities," it said.

Stating that the inmates requested the Bar team to take up the matter with the Human Rights Organisation, the Bar said it assured them of all possible help and promised to take up their issues and grievances with the authorities concerned and also with the High Court, where a PIL filed by the Bar Association is pending on the subject.

"The Bar also impressed upon the jail authorities to follow the jail manual in letter and spirit," Ashraf said.

Srinagar, October 15
As Eid-ul-Azha is being celebrated tomorrow, greetings poured in from all quarters today on the festive eve.

In his message, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand hoped that the auspicious occasion would further strengthen the bonds of communal harmony and brotherhood and usher the state into a period of sustained peace, progress and prosperity. He also prayed for the well-being of the people of the state.

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Mubarak Gul also greeted the people of the state. In his felicitation message, Gul prayed for peace and progress of the people of the state.

Legislative Council chairman Amrit Malhotra asked the Muslim brethren not to forget needy and destitute sections of society and extend helping hand towards them while celebrating Eid.

Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Gurmit Singh and all ranks of the Chinar Corps, in a joint message while extending Eid greetings, said: “May Allah shower his choicest blessings to the people of the Valley and bring goodwill, amity, peace and prosperity in their lives.” The GOC expressed the desire of continuing ‘working with Awam’ to bring peace and prosperity in the Valley.

Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra wished that the celebrations of Eid-ul-Azha bring happiness, a feeling of brotherhood and instill in us a sense of sacrifice and humility.

Director General of Police Ashok Prasad greeted all ranks of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and their families on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.

He expressed hope that the festival would bring joy and happiness among the policemen, their families and families of police martyrs. He also expressed hope that this Eid would usher an era of prosperity and equality in the state, and strengthen the bonds among different sections of society.

In his message, Director General Prisons, K Rajendra Kumar said the festive occasion teaches us to reaffirm our commitment towards the brotherhood and selfless service to humanity.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Abdul Ghani Mir felicitated all people of the Kashmir valley, police personnel and their families on the festive eve. The IGP said: “May this Eid bring peace and prosperity to all.”

Srinagar, October 15
The arrival of Haj pilgrims will begin from October 21 and the process will continue till November 6. This was stated in an official statement after the Kashmir, Divisional Commissioner, Shalinder Kumar, convened a high-level meeting of divisional officials today for ensuring full proof arrangements to facilitate the arrivals.

The Divisional Commissioner directed the officials concerned that every kind of facility, including accommodation provision, boarding and lodging, uninterrupted electricity, safe drinking water, sanitation in and around the Hajj House and better transport from Airport to Hajj House should be provided to all Hajj pilgrims at the airport, particularly those belonging to Jammu and Ladakh regions. The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, DIG Traffic, SSP Srinagar, Director Airport Authority, Additional Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Superintendent of Police Security, Joint Director Information, Kashmir, Superintendent of Police Rural, Hajj Officer Srinagar, General Manager SRTC and other officials concerned. — TNS

Srinagar, October 15
A group of 30 elderly citizens from Bandipore area of north Kashmir is on a two-week tour to Agra and Ajmer as part of a goodwill programme, the Army said.

The group was flagged off on the tour by the Army officers and civil dignitaries at Sonarwani in Bandipore on October 7. It would be returning on October 19, after celebrating Eid-ul-Azha at the famous Ajmer Sharief shrine, the Army said.

According to the statement, the group stayed at Agra from October 8 to 12, during which the members visited Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, and Jamia Masjid. Members of the group also interacted with Army officers during their stay at Agra.

During their stay at Ajmer presently, members would be visiting the Ajmer Dargah, Pushkan, Taragarh Fort and Adhai Dhin Ka Jhopra.

Srinagar, October 15
The Sir Sayeed Football Association Batmaloo today lifted the CRPF football trophy with a penalty corner.

Minister for Youth Servicers and Sports Taj Mohi-ud-Din was the chief guest on the occasion.

The CRPF football tournament was organised by the CRPF in which as many as 12 teams participated.

The chief guest, Minister for Youth Servicers and Sports Taj Mohi-ud-Din, handed over the trophy to the winning team and distributed consolation prizes among the runner-up and participating teams.