The war in the valley

THIS refers to the article ‘Mayhem & terror’ by M.L. Kak (January 15). As per media reports, Kashmiri terrorists have changed tack and are now specifically targeting the security forces. This is being done in order to force the security forces to be on the defensive, to discourage them from intensifying counter-insurgency operations and to create a scare among the people. I hope the higher authorities of the Army, the BSF and the CRPF take measures to stop the rising infiltration. The comments of the writer: "It is surprising that the troops guarding the border have not learnt to anticipate the routes and the modus operandi adopted by the infiltrators and the smugglers in the past 10 years", bring no credit to our security system, and reshaping and re-orientation of the security mechanism is called for.

ONKAR CHOPRA
Ludhiana

Hills of concrete

Apropos of Manpreet Singh’s article "Queen of the hills or hills of concrete" (January 8), almost all hill-stations in the country are decaying, thanks to man-made structures and the tourism industry.

Hill-stations are being burdened with high-rise concrete building, hotels and tourist resorts. Further there has been large-scale deforestation in the hills. This has led to landslides and forced the rivers and rivulets to change their course. In fact, the ecological balance of the hill system has been disturbed.

Immediate steps are required to save the hill towns from further destruction. The government should formulate strict laws for regulating the construction activity in the hills and also ensure afforestation of denuded hills.

O. P. SHARMA
Faridabad