Srinagar, June 22
Deepender Giri, mahant of Dashnami Akhara and the custodian of the holy mace of Lord Shiva, today announced the schedule regarding religious performance of the Amarnath yatra.

According to the mahant, the Chhari Mubarak will start with traditional rituals — bhoomi pujan and dhawajrohan (flag hoisting) ceremonies — to be performed at Pahalgam on Vyas Purnima falling on July 21. The Chhari-Mubarak shall return to the akhara the same day. Puja shall also be performed at historic Martand temple, Mattan.

After performing the chhari pujan on Nag Panchmi, which falls on August 10, Mahant Giriji will lead the yatra to the holy shrine to have darshan on Raksha Bandhan on August 19. The Mahant said the Chhari Mubarak or the holy mace would leave for Shankracharya temple from the akhara on August 5 while it would leave for Sharika Bhawani temple, Hariparvat, on August 6.

Besides, chhari sthapana and dhwajarohan ceremonies shall be performed at the akhara on August 8 while Chhari Mubarak will commence its journey to the cave shrine on August 15.

On way to Pahalgam, Pujan will be performed at Sureshwar temple (behind Hotel Shangrila), Sonawar, Srinagar, Shiv temple, Pampore, Shiv temple, Bijbehara and Martand Tirth, Mattan.

On August 19, the Chhari Mubarak will proceed for the holy cave for poojan at 6 a.m. from Panchtarni.

On the concluding day of the yatra, i.e on August 21, poojan and visarjan ceremonies will performed on the banks of Lidder. Thereafter, bhandara will be organised for sadhus.

Meanwhile, over 300 devotees today left on their onward journey on the second day of the state-organised pilgrimage, official sources said.

The pilgrims will visit the cave shrine via Baltal route — shortest route, they said, adding that over 6,700 pilgrims have already visited the holy shrine this year.

Jammu, June 22
Union Minister of state for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said here today that the state Government’s project for construction of additional cluster tenements for the Kashmiri migrants and displaced families from the border areas was under the consideration of the Central Government.

He told mediamen, on his arrival here on a two-day visit to Jammu, that the work on the Sheikhpora (Budgam) complex, which will house several hundred Kashmiri migrants living in camps in Jammu, was going to be completed shortly.

To a question he said it was for the Centre to decide with which political group it would initiate the dialogue. He said it was for the Prime Minister to fix the date for the meeting with political groups from Kashmir. Mr Jaiswal added that it was for the Central Government to decided whether to hold talks with Kashmiri political groups or not.

To another question he said that Delhi registered its protest with Pakistan Government for allowing the Hurriyat leaders to go beyond Muzaffarabad without valid visa from Islamabad.

“What else can we do? And being senior politicians Mr Vajpayee, Mr Advani and Mr Jaswant Singh should understand that besides lodging a protest we had no other way for expressing our displeasure,” he said.

Mr Jaiswal dished out a suggestion to pilgrims wishing to offer prayers at the Amarnath cave to start their pilgrimage from July 6. He explained that though the mountain route from Jammu to the cave via Baltal has been placed under security cover it would be better for the pilgrims to wait for the yatra to start from July 6 when the caravans of the pilgrims from Jammu to Baltal will be escorted by men of the police and the paramilitary forces.

He said his suggestion to pilgrims to avoid visiting the holy cave before the start of the yatra was also the result of his concern over the comforts of the pilgrims. He said that since the usual yatra route from Pahalgam was still under snow pilgrims should wait for another 15 days till the route became passable after completing the snow clearance operations.

Jammu, June 22
A meeting has been convened between the Director Civil Aviation, Jammu and Kashmir Government, and the Additional Chief Executive Officer, Amarnath Shrine Board for resolving the controversy over the refusal of the state Government to allow a private helicopter operator to start service between Baltal and the holy cave. The meeting is expected to take place in Srinagar tomorrow.

The Shrine Board, headed by Governor, S.K. Sinha, had entered into an agreement with Jagson Airlines, a private company for operating three helicopters from Srinagar and Baltal to the cave. The Governor was scheduled to inaugurate the copter services at Baltal yesterday.

The inaugural ceremony failed to take off after the state Government informed the Airlines authorities and the Shrine Board that permission had not been given for the operation as the state authorities had not received any intimation in advance. However, the Governor visited the cave on Tuesday on a helicopters provided by the state Government.

Inside reports said that on the suggestion of the state Government the Director Civil Aviation had written a letter to the Air Force authorities that permission to the private Airlines for operating helicopter services from Srinagar and Baltal to the cave be refused.

The Governor and the Shrine Board members were once again annoyed over the state Government’s decision on preventing the private Airlines from carrying out sorties for the benefit of the pilgrims.

Reports said that even the Air Force authorities, who had withheld permission for operating helicopter services to the cave, were surprised and intrigued over the direction from the State’s Civil Aviation Director.

As the senior functionaries of the state Government came to know about the Governor’s displeasure it was decided to resolve the matter at a meeting between the Shrine Board Additional Chief Executive Officer and the Director Civil Aviation.

In fact annual Amarnath pilgrimage remained mired in one controversy or the other that brought the Governor and the Chief Minister on a course of conflict. First controversy related to the Chief Minister’s refusal to extend the pilgrimage period by a month. Later the controversy was resolved after the senior Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, persuaded Mufti Mohd Sayeed to relent and allow an extension period of 15 days.

Another controversy yet to be resolved pertains to the levy of toll for the trucks carrying food items for langars being set up by philanthropists from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, the state Tourism Development has kept one helicopter for carrying pilgrims from Baltal to the cave.

Srinagar, June 22
The Prime Minister’s reconstruction plan of Rs 24,000 crore to Jammu and Kashmir was reviewed by the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, at a high level meeting here yesterday, which took up item-wise various areas covered under the plan.

An official spokesman said here that the meeting was told that of the Rs 24,000 crore plan, Rs 18,000 crore were to be spent in the central sector and Rs 6,000 crore in the state sector over a period of four years. Of the state sector, he was told that Rs 143.77 crore were released last year. Under the plan, Rs 1199.57 crore in the state sector and Rs 800 crores in the central sector are to be made available for development works during 2005-06.

Reviewing the department-wise progress, the Chief Minister was told that land had been acquired for the second phase of the Uri hydroelectric project and the Dulhasti project would be completed by the year end. He was briefed about the remodelled site plan of Kishenganaga project whereby the number of affected villagers consequent upon the construction of the dam would be minimised by a considerable number.

The Chief Minister sought the break down of 1000 micro hydel projects and their maintenance report which are being constructed in the remote areas of the state under the plan.

On the rural electrification, the Chief Minister was informed that by 2007 all villages in the state would be electrified. Thirty two new grid stations, including a ring of seven 220 kva grid stations, would be established. The state was purchasing about two crore units of power from the Centre daily. A project for underground cabling of Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Patnitop had been prepared and would be taken in hand under the plan.

Srinagar, June 22
At least three persons, including two infiltrators, were killed and an Army officer injured in separate incidents, while 17 others were injured in a grenade explosion at Beijbehara in Anantnag district today.

Two infiltrators were killed and an Army officer injured when the troops foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC at Khanabal in the Machil sector of Kupwara district last night, a defence spokesman said.

Sixteen civilians and a jawan were injured when the militants hurled a grenade at Gauriwan in Beijbeharam, about 45 km from here, in Anantang district today. Those injured have been shifted to hospital, where the condition of five is stated to be critical.

A throat-slit body of Ishtiaq Ahmad was found from Nadihal, Bandipore, in Baramula district today. He had been kidnapped by unidentified militants from his house in the village yesterday, the police said. The militants had also kidnapped Ashiq Husain from the village, and his whereabouts were still not known.