Srinagar, May 17
The 435-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway will be open to a trial run of Army convoy on May 20 after which the road, the only surface link to the frontier cold desert region of Ladakh, will be opened for the summer months.

Stating this here today, Brig S.S. Dasaka, Chief Engineer of the Beacon project of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), said the Zoji la, the highest peak dividing Ladakh region from Kashmir Division, saw 40 ft of snow this winter.

The timely clearance of the road had been made possible with the joint efforts of the Beacon and Himank projects working in Kashmir and Ladakh Divisions, respectively. It would take about a week for normal traffic on the highway, the Chief Engineer said.

The Beacon project looks after the construction and maintenance of 1630 km of roads in the Kashmir valley, while Himank looks after the roads in Ladakh. The Beacon also celebrates its 45th Raising Day tomorrow.

After remaining closed to traffic for over six months of winter, the opening of the Srinagar-Leh, highway catering to the entire Ladakh region, will result in transportation of essential supplies to the region. Leh has air links with Srinagar, Jammu and Delhi only.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Science and Technology, Mr Niwang Rigzin Jora, and the Minister for Youth Services, Sports and Technical Education, Haji Nissar Ali, visited Sonmarg and Gumri at Zoji la yesterday to take stock of clearance of snow. They appreciated the BRO for its efforts.

Haji Nissar said under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme, Rs 243 crore were being spent on the construction of a two-way Srinagar-Leh road. This would help in the removal of a major traffic bottleneck at Zoji la.

En route, the ministers met a deputation of the Mazdoor Union at Sonmarg. It submitted a charter of demands for early consideration.

Srinagar, May 17
The Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Finance, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Baig, has said that the government was committed to facilitate switchover from sales tax to the value added tax (VAT) regime through soft implementation of the provisions of the new trade law.

This assurance, according to an official spokesman, was given by the minister at a meeting with the representatives of the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF). The minister held that the government was open to any suggestion for making VAT more consumer and trader friendly. He asked the trading community that they must appreciate the advantages of the new tax regime, already operational in 135 countries of the world, including Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Making it clear that they were not opposed to the implementation of the new tax regime, KTMF representatives, however, said that they wanted the government to provide them some more time for the eventual switchover. They identified various provisions of the new tax law which would require to be suspended temporarily or modified till the trading community comes to terms with the new dispensation.

Announcing the decisions taken at the meeting, a spokesman of the Finance Department said that the threshold limit for registration and concomitant payment of tax would be enhanced from the annual turnover of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.50 lakh. Consequently, all such dealers in the state who purchased goods from within the state and whose annual turnover did not exceed Rs 7.50 lakh would not be liable to seek registration under VAT and hence exempt from payment of tax. 

Srinagar, May 17
Mr Abdul Ghani Vakil, senior vice-president of the state Congress committee has said the party will not surrender the post of Chief Minister in November.

“The state needs a seasoned, experienced, competent and honest Chief Minister, especially in the scenario of Indo-Pak amity,” Mr Vakil said. He was addressing a public rally in Baramula town of north Kashmir today after becoming the member of the state legislative council. He described it as baseless and false the propaganda of regarding the surrender of the post of the Chief Minister.

He said Mufti Sayeed was installed as Chief Minister for three years and would be definitely replaced in accordance with the coalition agreement.

The Congress is the main ally of the coalition government led by PDP chief, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The Congress leader also hailed the efforts of Ms Sonia Gandhi, for initiating and accelerating friendly relations between India and Pakistan and opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road.

Mr Vakil expressed concern over the recent killings and urged the government to take adequate measures to safeguard the lives and property of the people.

Srinagar, May 17
In a gruesome incident, suspected militants swooped on a Gujjar hamlet in a forest area about 35 kms from here and killed four persons, including a National Conference activist, by slitting their throats while abducting two others, official sources said today.

The militants, whose number was not available, raided Dardkhour forest near Harwan, 35 km from here, last night and abducted six persons at gun-point, the sources said.

The body of one of them, identified as NC activist Ghulam Qadir Gujjar, was found by locals this morning with his throat slit open and the police was subsequently informed, they said.

A police party from Harwan police station rushed to the area and a massive search operation was launched during which throat-slit bodies of three more persons, identified as Mohammad Rafiq, his brother Mukhtar Ahmad and Mohammad Aslam were recovered, the sources said.

They said the fate of two more persons identified as Mohammad Shafi Braw and Parveena, daughter of Ghulam Mohammad Khatana, of the same area, were not known immediately.

The search operation in the area was still continuing.

However, no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incident so far. — PTI