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2,200 stranded passengers leave for
Srinagar
Two killed as avalanche hits vehicle
Centre working on disaster
authority
Separatists not ready to consider themselves ‘irrelevant’
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Sonia to visit Jammu on March 29
Rumours lead to partial
strike
VC opens seminar on
Dogri
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2,200 stranded passengers leave for Srinagar
Jammu, March 2 Most of these passengers and load carriers, which left from Jammu early in the morning, have reached Ramban and would stay for the night in Banihal, the spokesman said. They would leave for the Kashmir valley tomorrow morning, he said. As many as over 5,000 Kashmiris were stranded in Jammu for the last 15 days. A batch of 2,200 of them was sent and the rest would be sent tomorrow, he said. The load carriers, on the way to the Kashmir valley, were carrying essential supplies including LPG, fruits and vegetables, he said. The earlier batch of 1,170 load carriers, which was stranded at Ramban for past few days, have crossed Jawahar Tunnel this afternoon, he said, adding that they were also carrying essential supplies. Meanwhile, with rescue and relief operations still on, the death toll in the unprecedented snowfall and avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 295, with 59 persons, including three foreign tourists, still missing and 607 stranded persons rescued from snow-devastated areas. Of the total deaths in avalanches, including that of 27 securtiy personnel, 221 were in the Kashmir valley and 74 in Jammu division, senior police officials said. Roads and Buildings Minister G.A. Mir said seven camps had been set up in avalanche-hit villages in Anatnag district and a massive search operation to trace the missing was on. An ex gratia of Rs 12.50 lakh had been provided to the next of kin of the snowstorm victims in Duroo-Shahbad constituency, he said. Mir said a four-member committee had been constituted in affected areas to ensure early assessment of loss to enable the state government provide necessary financial assistance to affected families forthwith. As many as 890 sorties were carried out by rescue teams ferrying 32,000 persons, including 4,500 stranded civilians, to their destinations in Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir valley, he added. — PTI |
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Two killed as avalanche hits vehicle
Jammu, March 2 The police said an avalanche hit the vehicle as a result of which it fell into a
nullah. The driver and a passenger were killed on the spot, the police added. —
UNI |
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Centre working on disaster
authority
Srinagar, March 2 This would be at the head of executive committees and a natural disaster responsive force (NDRF) drawn from various existing paramilitary forces, under the Union Home Ministry. The force will comprise eight battalions, out of which two, one each from CISF and BSF, are already undergoing specialised training in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Union Home Secretary Dharinder Singh, who concluded his two-day visit to the snow-hit state, told mediapersons here this afternoon that a Bill related to the institution of the National Disaster Management Authority would be taken up in the current session of Parliament. He said two teams of the NDRF would be located in North India with the purpose of relief, search and rescue in snow-hit areas. He pointed out that dogs with special training to identify victims in snow-hit areas and rescue them, would also be imported from foreign countries. A central team is already touring different snow-affected areas of the state to assess the extent of damage. Another team would be constituted to look after the reconstruction measures in view of the heavy damage caused to infrastructure due to heavy snowfall in the state, he said. Lauding the role of the Army, security forces and different agencies of the state government, Mr Dharinder Singh said a remarkable progress had been made in the relief and rescue operations. He added that, however, power supply continued to be a problem, where only 40 per cent restoration work had been completed. He held that the restoration of over 1000 MWs of power supply would be made soon. “We are in the process of airlifting essential supplies and emergency material”, the Union Home Secretary said. He said temporary relief camps had been set up for providing support to the affected people for the next four to six months. The reconstruction of infrastructure and proper functioning of the machinery were two more areas of concern of the government, Mr Dharinder Singh said. The Union Home Secretary claimed that “big steps” had been taken for the restoration work, though heavy damage was caused by the recent snowfall, taking many lives and damaging property. He added that the role of the uniformed forces was appreciable in providing of support and relief work. He held that the government had provided financial assistance to the Army for schools and hydel power projects and it showed “real dedication and human face in reaching out to the people”. |
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Separatists not ready to consider themselves ‘irrelevant’
Jammu, March 2 Prof Bhat told this correspondent that “we continue to consider our organisations relevant to the exercise on finding a durable and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.” The APHC leader said even the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, had stated umpteen times that Kashmir leaders were to be involved in the dialogue. Both the APHC leaders and those heading other organisations, including the Peoples’ Conference, await a formal invitation from the Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, who has announced to hold talks with anybody and everybody in Jammu and Kashmir. Prof Bhat said, “We are anybody. We are the principal characters in the activities aimed at resolving the Kashmir issue. As such we shall meet the Home Minister only when we are invited.” He and others said, “If National Conference patron Dr Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and other senior Congress leaders from Jammu and Kashmir have had talks with Mr Patil we have nothing to get associated with such an exercise.” The APHC leader, at the same time, made it clear that “we no longer have imposed a condition that prior to our meeting with Mr Patil we should visit Pakistan and Azad Kashmir for a dialogue with political leaders and those heading various militant groups.” “Since the two countries have agreed to reopen the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, it may facilitate our visit to Azad Kashmir,” he said. However, a number of political analysts in Jammu and Srinagar are of the opinion that the gradual improvement in the ties between India and Pakistan and behind the scene activities having been initiated by some Kashmir leaders settled in foreign countries have “reduced the importance of separatists functioning in the valley.” Oficial sources gave an example of the recent visit of a US-based millionaire businessman, Mr Farooq Ahmed Kathwari, who heads the Kashmir Study Group, to Jammu. The sources said Mr Kathwari had propounded the idea of granting limited sovereignty or full autonomy to the divided states under the control of India and Pakistan followed by softening of borders and making people to people contact. |
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Sonia to visit Jammu on March 29 Jammu, March 2 PCC chief and Rural Development Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed told mediapersons here today that various other senior party leaders would participate in the convention. He said all district units of the party would actively participate in the one-day convention and highlight their problems. He said the performance of the Congress during the recent civic elections was better than that during the Lok Sabha poll. |
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Rumours lead to partial
strike
Srinagar, March 2 The shopkeepers in these areas closed their establishments after there were rumours that some businessmen were fired upon by militants in the downtown and other areas which created panic as the Al-Mansoorian was involved in almost all fidayeen attacks in the valley. However, transport was normal on all rotues. — UNI |
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VC opens seminar on
Dogri
Jammu, March 2 Among the prominent Dogri writers participating in the conference are Prof Ram Nath Shastri, Mr Ved Rahi, Prof Lalit Mangotra, Mrs Veena Gupta and Mrs Champa Sharma. In his inaugural address, Professor Mattoo stressed the need for more books in Dogri. He appreciated the work being done by the post-graduate department of Dogri in promoting the language and research on it. There was no threat to local dialects due to globalisation, he added. Most of the participants urged parents to encourage their wards to speak in the mother tongue of Dogri. They expressed concern that the children were shy of speaking in Dogri and preferred to speak in Hindi. Mr Shastri, an octogenarian Padam Shri and prominent Dogri writer, said steps should be taken to promote the Dogri language at the primary school level and books should be published for this purpose. Dr Mangotra and Mrs Veena Gupta said writers should enrich the Dogri literature as the language had now been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. |
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With the authorities allowing one way traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, a batch of 2,200 stranded passengers and 1,050 carriers loaded with essential services left for Srinagar here today, an official spokesman said.
