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Chenab washes away bridge at Baglihar site
Adverse weather hits maize crop
Flats for Kashmiri Pandits nearing completion
‘Charri mubarak’ to leave for Amarnath on July 21
Governor conducts aerial survey of yatra route
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Congress is anti-Jammu: BJP
Constable arrested for murders
Mystery shrouds Army officer’s death
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Chenab washes away bridge at Baglihar site
Jammu, July 3 A red alert had been issued by the administration as the mighty river was flowing two to three degrees below the danger mark in Pul-Doda, Ramban and Akhnoor belts of the division, they said. However, no loss of life has been reported so far. The swirling waters washed away a 105-metre steel bridge at the 450 MW Baglihar project site at Chanderkote in Doda district last night, the sources told PTI. The strong water currents of the Chenab damaged flood protection walls at eight places in the low-lying areas of Akhnoor tehsil of Jammu district, they said. Two villages had also been submerged in the Ramban area of Doda district, they said. The rising waters, due to the melting of snow in higher reaches, had weakened the pillars of the bridge used to transport construction material to the project site, the sources said. In Ramban, two villages, Pujara and Sikhi, were partially submerged. Senior officers of Jaiprakash (Jaypee) Industries, involved in the construction of the project, rushed to the site to explore alternate ways to transport material to the site. A foot-bridge at Baxar (Ramban) continued to be under water for the third day today, indicating that there was no decline in the water level of the Chenab, the sources said. The Jaypee officials also discussed the measures to prevent loss of property at the dam site as in the coming days water level of the Chenab was expected to rise further because of the rains, they said. In Akhnoor, nine flood-protection walls were damaged by the gushing waters and several hundred metres of earth embankments were washed away, they said. The authorities
were keeping a round-the-clock vigil over the situation as 24 villages could be affected due to flash floods if the river crosses the danger mark in Akhnoor, they said. A red alert had already been sounded and in case of any eventuality, people in over 25 villages would be evacuated to the safer areas, they said. The main cause for concern was the tilting of the flood protection walls in several villages of Akhnoor in the low-lying areas, Chief Engineer (Flood Control) Vijay Koul said.
— PTI |
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Adverse weather hits maize crop
Jammu, July 3 Out of over 1.19 lakh hectares of agricultural land in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, more than 60 per cent is under maize cultivation. Heavy snow and intermittent but heavy rain till the first week of June delayed sowing of maize in large chunks of land. Mr Feroxe Din, a farmer from Rajouri, said under normal circumstances “we used to start harvesting of maize from first week of July and this season our maize plants in the fields are not more than two feet tall.” He said “if weather conditions remain normal we may be able to reap the crop after three weeks to one month.” Others said the delay in sowing and heavy rain after sowing had affected the production. In several areas of Poonch and Rajouri, farmers fear 30 to 40 per cent fall in maize production during the current season. Officials of the Department of Agriculture said that despite having sown high yielding varieties of maize bad weather was likely to affect the crop production. They said after the maize crop was harvested “we will be able to assess the extent of the loss though preliminary pre-harvest field survey has indicated a loss of 25 to 30 per cent.” One official confirmed that farmers had started seeking compensation from the government for the losses they may suffer on account of drop in maize production. It is because of the delay in harvesting that the availability of corn in Jammu city has been limited till this season. Corn is sold for Rs 5 and the stuff has been brought from the nearby areas. According to the police, there may not be any need for destroying maize crop on security reasons in Poonch and Rajouri this season. Till last year maize crops used to be destroyed near security and police camps and adjacent to the main roads as the tall maize plants would prevent security forces from carrying out anti-infiltration operations. These maize fields would be used as hideouts by the militants.
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Flats for Kashmiri Pandits nearing completion
Sheikhpora (Budgam), July 3 This migrant township is apart from two other clusters of residential flats coming up for migrant Pandits at Tulamulla in Srinagar and Mattan in Anantnag district of south Kashmir. Even as over 1100 migrant Kashmiri Pandits living outside the valley for the past 15 years, have given their consent to return, the modalities are being worked out. Most of those who have chosen to return to Kashmir have been living in migrant camps at different places in Jammu region. The Mufti-led coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir is keen on the return and rehabilitation of migrant Pandits who had left their homes and hearths with the eruption of militancy over 15 years ago. A delegation comprising 34 members of the All Migrant Camps Coordination Committee headed by Mr Veer Kumar, Mr Desh Rattan, Mr Ramesh Manhori, Mr Ramesh Koul and Mr Roshan Lal Raina, currently touring Kashmir visited the site the other day to have first hand information about the arrangements for the return of the Pandits. They have expressed satisfaction over the arrangements being made for the return and rehabilitation of the Pandits to the valley. The purpose of the visit was not only to visit the residential colonies but also to interact with the members of the majority community to have an overall view of the safe and honourable return of the Pandits back to the valley. In the first phase, 204 residential flats spread over 17 buildings each with 12 tenements, are being constructed for accommodating the Pandit families here. These are being constructed at a cost of Rs 20.03 crore, with assistance from the central government. An amount of Rs 8 crore has been released so far, while the value of work completed by the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) on the project is estimated at Rs 11.50 crore. Each residential flat has a carpet area of 980 square feet, while all other basic facilities are being provided. These include an overhead water tank, a sewerage treatment plant and an electric substation. A shopping complex with 12 shops is also coming up out of which six are already complete. The development of connecting roads within the colony spread over 87 kanals is also underway as part of the facilities for residents. A Government High School, a community centre and a health centre are also part of the project. Over two lakh Kashmiri Pandits migrated from the valley with the eruption of militancy in 1989-90. They have been residing in various parts of Jammu region, Delhi and other areas outside the State. A number of them continue to reside in migrant camps in Jammu and Udhampur. Even as various attempts were made to facilitate their return since the first elections after a long gap of seven years were held in 1996, the result is awaited. |
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‘Charri mubarak’ to leave for Amarnath on July 21
Jammu, July 3 “The ‘charri mubarak’ yatra will commence as per tradition via the Pahalgam route from Srinagar on July 21,” ‘charri mubarak’ head priest Deependra Giri said today. After the ‘bhoomi pujan’ and ‘dhwajarohan’ (ground breaking ceremonies), the procession would leave at around 7am on July 21 and culminate at the shrine of on August 19, the mahant added. Meanwhile, despite inclement weather, over 50,000 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine so far, officials said today. “As many as 50,327 pilgrims have had ‘darshan’ of ice lingum of Lord Shiva via the Baltal route till today”, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board officials said. Despite heavy rains in the route leading to the shrine, the yatra was going on smoothly and there were no reports of casualties, the officials said. A 13th batch of 974 pilgrims left in 47 vehicles early this morning from here for Baltal, the base camp of the Amarnath yatra. As many as 4,782 pilgrims have been registered for the Amarnath yatra by Jammu and Kashmir bank at its counters here and in other districts of Jammu division till today, the sources said. The registration process, which began on June 27, will continue till July 15. The yatra is yet to begin along the traditional route of Pahalgam-Chandanwar. It was earlier decided to commence the pilgrimage from this route from July 6 but inclement weather conditions are posing a problem. — PTI
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Governor conducts aerial survey of yatra route
Srinagar, July 3 The Governor had a stopover at Panchtarni where officers briefed him about the latest status of the track. Anantnag District Development Commissioner Baseer Khan apprised the Governor about arrangements made for this year’s Amarnath yatra at the base camp and en route the cave shrine. The permission for tent owners and vendors are being issued while steps are on to ensure availability of essentials, drinking water, electricity, transport and other utility services. Lt General Sinha, who is also the Chairperson of the Amarnath Shrine board, conferred with the officers of the administration, Army, police and security forces at Batal and reviewed the arrangements. He was told that the work on helipad hanger was nearing completion, which would facilitate the pilgrim traffic and regulating the helicopter services up to the cave. The Governor said the board was working towards making the yatra environment-friendly and for this purpose latest prefabricated toilets and other shelters are being raised. Meanwhile, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel and West Bengal Minister for Fisheries, Aguaculture and Fishing Kirmany Nanda were among those who paid obeisance at the cave shrine this morning. Later, Mr Patel called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan and hailed the arrangements made for the yatra. — UNI
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Kashmir to have trauma relief centres
Chandigarh, July 3 In a short time from now, all districts in Kashmir will, for the first time, have full fledged Trauma Relief Centres where classes in stress elimination will be held on a regular basis. The centres will be set up at all district headquarters and several villages of the Kashmir valley. Orphanages will also be established along with the centres. The foundation’s expertise in trauma relief has been widely acclaimed following its resounding success in providing trauma relief in the aftermath of 9/11, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq wars and Gujarat earthquake. Currently, the foundation is also running several trauma relief camps in the tsunami-affected areas in Nagapattinam in India and Sri Lanka. The decisions to open trauma centres in Kashmir was announced during the day-long visit of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to the valley last week. He was there to address a conference on “Human Values”,
which was attended by several Kashmiri groups, both factions of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, and leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik and Moulana Abbas Ansari. It is not common knowledge but Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front supremo Yaseen Malik is an Art of Living beneficiary, like many other Hurriyat Conference leaders. Besides that, the organisation, through its interventions in militant infested areas, has restored to the mainstream some active militants with depressing past records. Speaking to The Tribune from Srinagar today, Urvashi Jamwal, Art of Living instructor who earlier served as a Public Relations Officer in the government, said, “We have been operating from Kashmir’s Rajbagh area for five years. It has taken us long to break the ice and trigger the healing process. But we have managed to bring about a positive change among the Kashmiri youths through our Youth Leadership Training Programmes.” Structured to help youth of the valley become one with themselves, the programme has helped create a nursery of talent. “College as well as school students are enrolling with us and taking our programmes which are designed to thrust out the negative emotions and replace them with positive ones.” The programmes also encourage youngsters to travel to affected areas of the valley, identify traumatised people and help them unwind through the Art of Living classes, especially the Sudershan Kriya. The Kriya is the foundation’s most dependable programme which helps people touch base with their inner selves and give peace another chance, said Mr Ashish Nagrath from the Foundation’s Chandigarh chapter. The healing touch will further spread far and wide with trauma centres opening up in Kashmir’s districts, said Urvashi Jamwal, adding that deliberations were on with the government with regard to location of the centres.
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Congress is anti-Jammu: BJP
Jammu, July 3 The demand is aimed at targeting the Congress which has, according to the BJP vice-president, Dr Hari Om, “become a party to the anti-Jammu policies being evolved and adopted by the PDP.” Prof Hari Om said the Congress and the PDP was perpetrating injustice on the people of the Jammu region.” To cause erosion in the Congress vote bank in the Jammu region, the BJP, which could win only one seat in 2002 Assembly poll, has started blaming the Congress for maintaining silence over the PDP’s emphasis on the need for involving valley-based separatists in solving the Kashmir issue through the ongoing peace process. Prof Hari Om said the BJP was of the opinion that the Congress continued to adopt a dubious policy as far as the role of separatists was concerned on the Kashmir issue.” Dr Hari Om, said the BJP ridiculed the opposition of Kashmiri separatists to the demand for reorganisation of Jammu and Ladakh regions.” He said “any suggestion from Hurriyat Conference leaders is unacceptable to the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions who are capable of taking care of their needs and aspirations.
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Constable arrested for murders
Jammu, July 3 During a tip-off, the police raided a hideout in the Narwal area on the outskirts of Jammu city and arrested constable Mohd Saif of the 4th battalion of the JKAP, they said. Saif, who was suspended in 2003 following the murder of contractor Noora, had been absconding along with three other suspended cops since then, they said, adding a case in this connection stood registered against them. Four policemen had fired from their AK rifles on a vehicle carrying Noora and his driver at Sunjawan in Jammu city in 2002. The cops still absconding were Asghar, Haneef and Farmaan. Saif has been sent to police custody.
— PTI |
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Mystery shrouds Army officer’s death
Jammu, July 3 The 16 corps media-in-charge, Col D K Badola said Lieut Rajesh Pandey was found dead in his room at Kotedhara at 8 p.m. He said the Lieutenant had a bullet wound in his stomach and his official rifle was lying beside him, adding it could be a case of suicide or accidental firing. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he added.
— UNI
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Escorts branch in Kashmir soon
Srinagar, July 3
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