J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Bunkers in 2,400 J & K houses
SRINAGAR, Sept 22 — The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to construct bunkers in 2400 houses in the border belts of Baramula and Kupwara districts for the safety of the people.

Work on border fencing yet to begin
Field reports belie Army assertions
JAMMU, Sept 22 — Field reports from various segments of the 187-km-long international border from Akhnoor to Kathua give a different picture from the one painted by the Corps Commander, Lt Gen A.S. Khanna, who had said yesterday that work on the fencing of the border had already started.

Phone subscribers in soup due to delayed bills
JAMMU, Sept 22 — It takes more than 10 days for phone bills to cover a distance of just 2 km. The fact is substantiated by the increasing anger among telephone subscribers who invariably receive the phone bills one week to 10 days after the due date for payment.

Rs 127.82-cr grant for J & K
SRINAGAR, Sept 22 — The 11th Finance Commission has awarded a grant of Rs 127.82 crore for the upgradation of infrastructure and tackling special problems under various sectors for the next five years to Jammu and Kashmir.

Bunkers in 2,400 J & K houses
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Sept 22 — The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to construct bunkers in 2400 houses in the border belts of Baramula and Kupwara districts for the safety of the people.

These bunkers would be constructed at a cost of Rs 5 crore already sanctioned by the Central Government. Out of the sum, an amount of Rs 2 crore would be spent on the construction of bunkers in Karnah sector of Kupwara district. A major portion of the remaining amount would be spent on preventive measures in Uri sector of Baramula district.

An official spokesman said here that of the 2,400 bunkers, 1200 bunkers would be constructed in Uri sector, 1000 in Kupwara sector and 200 in the border belt of Gurez adjacent to the line of control.

In addition 100 community bunkers would be constructed near government offices to accommodate large numbers in the event of shelling. The bunkers in houses were being designed to accommodate eight-10 persons while the size of the community bunker would be almost double than formed.

Work on the construction of bunkers had started, the official spokesman stated.

Over the past three years, there has been intermittent shelling and firing by Pakistani troops from across the border which have taken a heavy toll of human lives. According to reports here, 250 persons have been killed in the shelling over the past three years. This year, an estimated 40 persons, including security jawans, have been killed.

The officials here believes that Pakistani troops resort to unprovoked firing at Indian posts in order to facilitate infiltration by trained militants for creating trouble in the valley. The shelling, according to the officials, is always more in September and October months to push in militants before the high mountainous passes are closed due to heavy snow during the winter months.

Residents of the border belts, particularly in Uri sector of Baramula district and Karnah-Keran-Tangdhar belts of Kupwara district, have been demanding preventive measures. While the continuous shelling hampers work during the summer months, the same is not taken up during the winter for the areas remain under a thick cover of snow.

Work on border fencing yet to begin
Field reports belie Army assertions
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 22 — Field reports from various segments of the 187-km-long international border from Akhnoor to Kathua give a different picture from the one painted by the Corps Commander, Lt Gen A.S. Khanna, who had said yesterday that work on the fencing of the border had already started.

According to reports, supplemented by a state government survey, work on the fencing project has not yet been started. In fact, under a decision taken by the Union Home Ministry in consultation with the Defence Ministry, 50 km of the 187-km-long border had to be fenced by September-end, 2000.

The reports say that so far the BSF, which is the executing agency for the project, has neither received funds nor construction material though it had been told that the funds and construction material, especially barbed wire and angular iron poles, would be sent in early May.

Since the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has not been involved in the project, the BSF authorities have no separate funds to be utilised till the money from the Union Home Ministry flows from Delhi to Jammu.

When work on the fencing project was started in 1995, the CPWD was much in the picture. Following heavy firing by Pakistani Rangers on the project site, the labourers and contractors engaged by the CPWD fled. The work was suspended and it was in early March that the Union Government felt the need for fencing the border for the purpose of checking infiltration and arms smuggling from across the border.

The Government discussed the matter with the Defence Ministry and it was decided that the Army would supervise the work on the project so that the troops could repulse any Pakistani attack, leaving the BSF officials free to execute the fencing project.

Police sources said even if the work was started after a week, BSF engineers and technicians would not be able to fence even 5 km of the border within the next three weeks. This was so because the BSF was yet to engage the labour force for digging pits for fixing eight feet tall angular iron poles to sustain the barbed wire.

Informed sources said, there was confusion and lack of coordination among various Central Government agencies. It is not yet known whether the Union Finance Ministry has released funds required for fencing the border. In 1995 the border fencing project was estimated to cost about Rs 200 crore. The cost has further escalated during the past five years. Rough estimates say the project may cost not less than Rs 350 crore.

Another area of confusion is the alignment of the fence. Since Pakistan had been protesting against fencing the border on the ground that Islamabad considers the border between Kathua and Akhnoor in Jammu sector as a working boundary, New Delhi had mooted an idea of raising the fence deep within the Indian territory.

Pakistan had demanded that if India wanted to raise a fence, it should do so within 400 metres inside the Indian territory. India had rejected this in 1995.

When the matter was discussed in the beginning of the current year it was agreed that fencing be raised within 150 and 200 metres within the Indian territory. The farmers in the border villages had protested on the plea that several hundred villages would lie on the other side of the fence which could restrict their movement and farming practices. They yielded when the BSF authorities assured them that they would be allowed to visit their farms through “windows”.

The BSF authorities are said to have received no firm instructions on the alignment of the fence, whether it is to be raised 150-250 metres within the Indian territory.

Phone subscribers in soup due to delayed bills
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 22 — It takes more than 10 days for phone bills to cover a distance of just 2 km. The fact is substantiated by the increasing anger among telephone subscribers who invariably receive the phone bills one week to 10 days after the due date for payment.

The matter was raised by members of the Jammu Consumer Council and mediapersons with both the telecom and the postal authorities but despite assurances there had been no improvement in the system. Due to this most of the subscribers had to pay surcharge on the telephone bills.

A snap survey carried out by the TNS indicated that there was total lack of coordination between the telecom and postal authorities. The two agencies acted as rivals with the result there was no proper supervision on the tabulating of the phone bills and the delivery system. The postal authorities held telecom officials responsible for the delay in the delivery of the phone bills to the subscribers.

The postal authorities said that telecom officials delivered the bills days after the delivery stamp had been fixed at the telecom office. But the telecom authorities blamed the postal officials for delaying delivery of the phone bills.

They said that in order to reduce the load of phone bills different dates had been set for the issuance of the bills but still the postal authorities moved, as per their schedule without caring to clear the backlog of the phone bills.

The Jammu Consumer Council, has sent a communication to the Union Minister for Communications, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, requesting him to investigate into the matter and take corrective measures so that subscribers did not suffer.

The survey had revealed that at least 20 per cent of the phone subscribers did not receive bills and had to pay surcharge after their lines were disconnected.

Though new telephone exchanges have come up and the strength of phone lines has increased in geometric proportion but in Jammu city counter for receiving phone bills have not witnessed, proportionate increase. Subscribers have to wait in long queues for hours to pay the bills.

Rs 127.82-cr grant for J & K
From Our Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Sept 22 — The 11th Finance Commission has awarded a grant of Rs 127.82 crore for the upgradation of infrastructure and tackling special problems under various sectors for the next five years to Jammu and Kashmir.

Disclosing this at a meeting, Chief Secretary Ashok Jaitly directed each department to prioritise requirements and project its plan accordingly under the scheme.

Of the total amount, Rs 41 crore would be utilised for tackling special problems while Rs 39.66 crore would be spent on augmentation of traditional water resources and Rs 12 crore for upgradation of health services. A sum of Rs 9 crore would be utilised for upgrading the police administration, an official spokesman said here.

An amount of Rs 51.41 crore would be spent during 2000-2001, Rs 25.70 crore each during 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 and Rs 25.01 crore during 2003-2004. During the fifth year of the award period, the unspent amount would be utilised on schemes approved for the purpose.