Jammu, March 21
All eyes are set on tomorrow’s meeting of the PDP patron, Mufti Sayeed, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the former is expected to do some hard talk in a bid to hammer out a solution to the feud between his PDP and the Congress on the issue of phased pullout of troops from Kashmir and repeal of the armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

The political scenario here has taken an interesting turn with opposition parties criticising the Mufti for his demand of pullout of troops.

On the other hand, the PDP activists claim that the demand was justified as the armed forces have occupied orchards and agriculture land of small farmers in the valley.

The Mufti has made it clear that he would stick to his demand for a gradual pullout of armed forces, which the Prime Minister and the Congress have rejected at this juncture.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has also rejected the demand of his main coalition partner.

The Prime Minister last week in a letter to the Mufti ruled out a cut as the time was not ripe for this purpose. However, he invited him for talks at Delhi when the PDP convened a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee at Srinagar on March 25 to formulate the future course of action.

The PDP ministers have boycotted the last three Cabinet meetings in a bid to mount pressure on the government for acceptance of their demands.

Mufti is learnt to have gone to Delhi armed with government figures pertaining to occupation of orchards and agriculture lands.

According to official figures, 6,81,839 kanals of land have been occupied by the security forces in different parts of the state. Of this, occupation over an area of 3,10,184 kanals was unauthorised for which no rent was being paid to the owners.

Official figures indicate that more than 34,186 kanals of land was under the unauthorised occupation of security forces in the districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, Pulwama, Anantnag and Budgam that are considered the fruit basket of Kashmir.

While 8706 kanals of land in Baramulla district was legally occupied by the security forces, but that under unauthorised occupation was 21,533 kanals. Similarly, in the Anantnag district, which has been a hot bed of militancy, 1657 kanals was under legal and 6662 kanals under unauthorised occupation of troops.

The security forces are supposed to pay a rent of Rs 1575 for each kanal of land under its occupation in the fruit bearing orchards. However, this was not being done in a large number of cases where the orchardists and small farmers were crying for official help. For irrigated agriculture land they were supposed to pay Rs 1125 per kanal and for the double cropped lands Rs 1688 per kanal.

Jammu, March 21
People's Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Syed's plank of demilitarisation has come under attack from the BJP and the Panther's Party today as both parties accused him of creating political instability in Jammu and Kashmir.

''Mufti is to be blamed for a severe uncertain atmosphere and political instability prevailing in J and K which is not good for the people of the state,'' National Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh said at a press conference here.

Accusing Mufti of treachery against the Congress-led coalition government, Prof Bhim Singh said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not listen to the PDP chief on the issue of demilitarisation.

He said the party would organise a rally in Jammu on March 23 and convey to the people the ''misdeeds'' of the PDP.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir BJP unit has demanded the Governor's rule in the state, submitting a memorandum to the Governor, Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd), in this regard.

''The government has become non-functional and the situation has now climaxed to the point that the PDP has been openly subverting the whole system by boycotting Cabinet meetings on such dangerous and anti-national issues of demilitarisation and revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act,'' state BJP vice-president Hari Om said at a press conference here today.

''The nation cannot afford such a situation (demilitarisation and revoking the Act) at a time when there are definite reports that Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and ISI saboteurs are planning big strikes not only in the state, but also elsewhere in the country,'' the BJP vice-chief stated in the memorandum.

Responding to a question, Hari Om said the BJP was even ready for the polls in case of early elections as apprehended by the National Conference.

Srinagar, March 21
The continued downpour across Jammu and Kashmir since this morning has further led to a grim situation due to the rising water level in the Jhelum and its tributaries leading to a flood alert in Kashmir.

However, the water level in the Jhelum at Sangam, that was recorded 1 ft above the danger mark yesterday, had shown a decline around midnight, officials here said. They added that the level was again slightly above the danger mark at noon today following rainfall since this morning.

The Flood Control and the Urban Environmental Engineering Departments (UEED) have been geared up to meet any eventuality and other agencies concerned have been asked to keep men and machinery in a state of readiness to cope up with the situation. Boats have been dispatched in advance to various flood-prone areas of the valley, officials here claimed.

According to the chief engineer, Flood Control, 12 zonal flood-control units were set up in Kashmir and sufficient numbers of sandbags were available. Flood control rooms have been activated across the valley. Contingents of the River Police are patrolling the affected areas, officials here said.

CM Ghulam Nabi Azad during his visit here today inspected the banks of the Jhelum near Lasjan Bridge. He also inspected the contingent of the River Police. The police was providing communication facilities to the officials of flood control at Sangam, Ram Munshi Bagh and Asham so that immediate information regarding the water levels could be easily disseminated to the general public, its spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the police rescued 30 families from four villages in the Kralpora area of Handwara in Kupwara district yesterday while people in many other places were persuaded to leave their homes for safer places. Over 150 persons, comprising 15 families, were also evacuated from Machhama, Tral in Pulwama district of south Kashmir today.

Srinagar, March 21
At least six persons, including three women, were injured after a cloudburst damaged six houses in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The cloudburst at Machhama-Zadyari village in the Tral area of Pulwama district last night damaged six houses, injuring those inside, including three women, official sources said.

The injured were evacuated to hospital where their condition was stated to be serious.

A police team headed by Tral DSP Mohammad Rashid rushed to the affected village and evacuated 150 residents to a safer place, they said.

They said 20 other houses were marooned as a result of the cloudburst. — PTI