Jammu, February 16
The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board is gearing up to receive half a million pilgrims during this year’s annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.

The SASB has chalked out broad outline for upgrading facilities and developing infrastructure at the base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal besides various points en route the cave shrine.

The Governor, Lt Gen (Retd) S.K. Sinha, who heads the board, has called for coordinated efforts to make the stay and journey of pilgrims, coming from various parts of the country, comfortable. He said the yatra symbolised the uniqueness of kashmir culture and had potential to give a tremendous boost to the local economy. Last year four lakh pilgrims had arrived which was the highest number of yatris paying obeisance at the shrine during the two-month pilgrimage.

On the environmental front, the traditional deep trench latrines put up at the base camps and other yatra points had been a major cause of pollution. These would be replaced by prefab toilets with adequate water supply and use of friendly bacteria for faster degradation of all waste into manure.

The SASB decided to put up 2100 pollution free toilets and 650 bathrooms at all the points including base camps. Of these 550 toilets and 250 bathrooms had already been put up.

The expertise of Sulabh International will also be utilised. To raise funds for upgrading infrastructure and various facilities on the pilgrimage route, a resource committee has been constituted with Mr Raghu Modi as its chairman for launching an international campaign.

Jammu, February 16
A surrendered militant was killed and seven others wounded, two of them critically, in a grenade blast in a crowded market in Kishtwar in Doda district today.

Police sources said the grenade, thrown from a narrow lane, exploded in Azad Book Depot, which belonged to surrendered militant Aiyaz Ahmad.

Eight persons, including Aiyaz, sustained critical injuries. Sources said Aiyaz later succumbed to his wounds.

Aiyaz, a Hizbul Mujahideen militant, had surrendered before police in Kishtwar town in 1997.

All injured were undergoing treatment in the sub-district hospital, Kishtwar. The condition of two of them was stated to be critical.

Four of the injured were identified as Dalip Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Dalip Singh and Randhir.

SRINAGAR: A CPI (M) activist, whose daughter-in-law was recently elected as a councillor to Kulgam Municipal Committee in Anantnag district, has been shot dead by militants, official sources said today.

Ghulam Hassan Laway was gunned down by unidentified militants inside his house at Chowalgam in Kulgam area of Anantnag district last night, the sources said.

They said the militants were looking for his daughter-in-law Shameema who recently won the civic body polls. Shameema was not present at the house and the gunmen later shot dead Laway and fled the scene.

A hunt has been launched to nab the militants, the sources said. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incident. — UNI, PTI

Jammu, February 16
Welcoming allocation of Rs 4,200 crore for the state’s annual plan for the year 2005-2006, the All-Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association has demanded that the state government should make an adequate allocation in its plan for tourism which is the mainstay of the state’s economy.

A meeting of the Jammu Hoteliers Body held here today under the chairmanship of its president, Mr Inderjeet Khajuria, demanded that an equitable share should be earmarked for the promotion and development of tourism in Jammu. It demanded that there should be separate allocation of funds concerning tourism for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The association averred that there is ample scope and potential for pilgrim tourism in Jammu region. The Mata Vaishnodevi shrine attracts 60 lakh pilgrims per year. This situation must be exploited to promote pilgrimage to other shrines and tourism to other places in Jammu.

The association rued that out of Rs 24,000 crore announced by the Prime Minister, to be provided to the State in the next four years for reconstructing its shattered economy, no funds had been earmarked for tourism development in Jammu. The Central and state governments, in the past, had neglected tourism in Jammu and the region had been meted out a raw deal.

The association proposed that the project of Tawi facelift in Jammu city should be taken in hand on top priority. An artificial lake should be created in the Tawi river between the main old bridge and the new bridge near Bahge Bahu. Both the banks on Tawi between these points be provided steps and ‘ghats’ for the devotees to offer ‘aarti’.

This will help promote pilgrim tourism in Jammu and will be an attraction for the Vaishnodevi pilgrims to stay in Jammu for a day or so. The association also demanded installation of cable car between the points from Mubarak Mandi (old secretariat) to Baghe Bahu and from there to Maha Maha city forest.