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Monday,
March 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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6,000 stranded on Jammu-Srinagar highway Chill brings militants downhill Treat us as equals: PoK refugees Release of ultras: JSC meeting on March
5 Ultras have over 300 police weapons |
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| Fake degree racket busted Srinagar, March 2 The Jammu and Kashmir police today claimed to have busted a racket of fake degrees and other educational certificates following the arrest of four persons from various parts of the city. All-woman police station starts working
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6,000 stranded on Jammu-Srinagar highway Jammu, March 2 Reports said as many as 531 heavy vehicles, including 178 passenger buses, were stranded at various places between Ramban and Banihal on the highway. About 353 trucks carrying food items and other supplies were also held up. The Batote-Doda highway had also been blocked due to landslides. The air services between here and Srinagar were cancelled because of bad weather and heavy downpour. The police said it might be possible to reopen the highways only tomorrow in case the weather improved. Landslides have occurred on both sides of the Ramban town and eight other landslides were reported between Ramban and Ramsu in a stretch of about 45 km. Heavy snowfall was reported between Banihal and Qazigund and the vehicular traffic has been suspended. The temperature has dipped here because of incessant rain and snowfall in the higher reaches. Electricity supply was also affected in the town. SRINAGAR: Reports of heavy snowfall have come in from most of the upper reaches of the valley, including Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg. Most areas in north Kashmir districts of Baramula and Kupwara have been cut off from the rest of the valley due to heavy snow. One way traffic was restored on road links to some of these areas like Lolab valley of Kupwara district last week. But the second heavy spell of snow and downpour has again led to the closure of these road links. The Jammu and Kashmir Government has ordered the extension in the winter vacations of the government and private schools in the valley. These schools will now reopen on March 7 instead of March 3. Some of the private schools have also announced to reopen from March 10 due to the prevailing bad weather conditions in the valley. These educational institutions were closed for winter vacations in December last year. This is after a gap of many years that winter vacations have been extended due to bad weather conditions. This is for the second time this season that the valley has been cut off from the rest of the world through road surface with the blockade of the highway. First it was closed for about four days from February 17 last when the much awaited heavy snowfall and rains hit the region for the first time at the fag end of this winter. Following intermittent rains and snowfall in plains and upper reaches of the valley, respectively, for the past two weeks, bad weather conditions prevailed since Friday evening. For many elders the continued downpour at this time of the season, was reminiscent of the old times. The valley has been witness to very little downpour and snowfall during winters in the past over a decade, which has its manifest on the summer months thereby directly affecting the agricultural and horticultural production in the state. It is, however, believed that such a downpour during peak winter months of December and January is usually more helpful to the summer crops. By dint of having good snow reserves in the upper mountains during peak winter months, water level in rivers and streams in the valley suffices irrigation purposes throughout the summer months. It also helps in maintaining water level for the hydroelectric projects for optimum power generation from the state’s own generating projects. Intermittent snowfall and rains have also been witnessed in Srinagar city since Friday evening, where the residents woke up to witness a thick layer of snow all around this morning. This led to waterlogging throughout the city, as there was no let up in the downpour throughout the day today. Main roads and link roads in many areas of the city were waterlogged since yesterday due to the lack of a proper drainage system. Residents in many parts of the city preferred to remain indoors due to bad weather and waterlogging. GURDASPUR: Heavy rainfall accompanied by hail storm and high velocity winds last night caused a lot of damage to standing crop and property in the surrounding areas of Gurdaspur. Scores of trees were uprooted causing blockade on GT Road and link routes. Several houses and other vehicles moved from village to village in search of a safe route to reach Pathankot and Amritsar. Telephone and electricity poles were uprooted and wires were snapped at various places resulting in breakdown of power supply and telecommunication link particularly in the rural areas. The worst hit were the farmers whose crops of wheat, masoor and gram worth crores of rupees were damaged. It has been reported that in Sadda, Sekha, Dhamoori and Nangal several acres under cultivation of wheat have been submerged in 4-foot deep water. Farmers of the area have started selling the standing crop of wheat to Gujjars at a rate of rupees Rs 200 per kanal for use as fodder for cattle. The villages which were adversely affected included Dalla, Bhoka, Khudapur, Keshopur, Barnala, Behrampur, Parsonke, Warsola, Shour Sidhw Hayat Nagar, Tung, Kalanangal, Hemrajpur, Ale Chack, Bathwala, Dugri and Thamman. Farmers added that the standing wheat crop particularly in low lying areas in the district has been damaged because of the rain. Mr K.A.P. Sinha Deputy Commissioner, confirmed that the damage to standing crop had been caused due to heavy rains and squall. Orders to revenue staff are being given for fresh girdawari to assess the loss. All damage to the crops due to rains covered under natural calamity will be compensated as per rules, said the Deputy Commissioner. SHIMLA: Higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh experienced fresh snowfall while mid and lower hills had rain last night, bringing a sharp fall in the temperature in the region. The capital town of Shimla and its adjoining areas were lashed by a windstorm, accompanied by hail and rain that blew off thatched roofs, hoardings and signboards and disrupted power supply at several places. The windstorm continued throughout the night. High velocity winds also blew at tourist places of Wildflower Hall, Naldehra and adjoining hills which also experienced rain. The tribal district of Lahaul Spiti had intermittent snowfall for the past three days. About two and a half feet of snow had accumulated at Keylong, headquarters of the district. The 13050-foot-high Rohtang Pass, gateway to the district and Dhauladhar mountain ranges, overlooking the Kangra valley, also had snowfall plumetting the temperature in twin valleys of Kullu and Kangra.
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Chill brings militants downhill Jammu, March 2 These militants, camping in the upper reaches of
Lolab, Rajwar, Kokernag, Pahalgam, Doda, Kishtwar and Banihal, who would otherwise have trekked to the base camps, have been held back by the fear of attacks from security forces. It is in this contest that security forces have been directed to set up pickets in hamlets that could be used for shelter by militants, if they came down. Meanwhile, the
Lashkar-i-Toiba has received fresh orders to step up armed campaign against security forces and the mainstream political leaders. The sources said these instructions had come after the agencies in Pakistan had found a considerable drop in the incidents of militant attacks in the state. Officials said two factors were responsible for the decline in the militant attacks. First, the political situation had started showing signs of improvement leaving militants without public support. Secondly, growing conflict between local militants and foreign mercenaries, along with a drop in infiltration from across the LoC due to better security management and weather problems, had forced rebels on the defensive. Security agencies are considering it a temporary lull before the rebels regroup. A senior man in the police said the LeT had been lying low in Srinagar and Budgam districts, as it was short of man and weapons, but there has been no damper on the movement of militants in Poonch, Rajouri, Doda and parts of Udhampur district.
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Treat us as equals: PoK refugees Jammu, March 2 Mr Rajiv Chuni, chairman of the SOS, told reporters here today that successive governments in the state had ignored the PoK migrants’ pleas for permanent settlement for persons who had fled the PoK during the Partition. He said many facilities had been extended by the Centre and the state to those who had fled the Valley due to terrorism. He said the PoK refugees would support the Bill moved by the Panthers Party MLA, Mr Balwant Singh, in the Assembly for the reservation of four seats for the PoK refugees. At present, 24 seats have been reserved in the Assembly for the PoK refugees. On disparities between the two types of migrants, Mr Chuni said there was reservation in professional colleges for the wards of the Valley migrants, but none for the children of the PoK refugees. Cash relief of Rs 2,400 per month was being given to each family that had migrated from the Valley, whereas, no such relief was being given to the PoK refugees. Each Kashmiri-migrant family was being paid a relief of Rs 600 per month as ration money as well. |
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Release of ultras: JSC meeting on March 5
Jammu, March 2 The meeting had been postponed five times earlier due to Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections, the sources said. The five-member committee headed by state’s Financial Commissioner, Home S.D. Singh has DGP Ashok Suri, state Intelligence Chief, ADGP Kuldeep Khuda, DG, Prisons, S S Ali and Joint Secretary, Union Home Ministry Rakesh Hooja (central representative) as its members, the sources said. The joint committee was formed following Central Government’s resentment over the release of 24 political prisoners and militants by the Mufti government in November last year, the sources added. PTI
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Ultras have over 300 police weapons Jammu, March 2 Only four such weapons have been identified by the Army which were returned to the police, the sources said, adding the army had been asked to inform about further confiscations during anti-militancy operations.
PTI
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Fake degree racket busted Srinagar, March 2 Acting on a complaint lodged by Nisar Ahmad, a resident of the Tral area in south Kashmir, the police nabbed Nazir Ahmad Wani, whose interrogation led to the arrest of three others — Fayaz Ahmad Khaja, Ishfaq Javeed Masoodi and Manzoor Ahmad Bhat — all of whom were involved in the racket, a police spokesman said. A huge quantity of fake educational degrees and certificates and stamps of senior officers including DIG, BSF, and the District Health Officer, have been recovered from the arrested persons, the spokesman said. Fayaz, who is already facing trial in two similar cases, operated from the Ganphatyar-Habbakadal area of the city, using computer scanning system for the production of fake documents, the spokesman said.
PTI |
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All-woman police station starts working Srinagar, March 2 Besides taking up women’s cases, the police station would take care of routine policing of Dal Lake and adjacent areas, official sources said.
PTI
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2 hurt in attack
Srinagar, March 2 |
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