J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Girl killed by leopard, villagers protest; 5 cops hurt
Srinagar, September 7
A teenaged girl was mauled to death by a leopard, sparking off violent protests that left five policemen injured in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said today.

Rail tunnel collapses
Jammu, September 7
Work on the Udhampur-Kashmir valley rail line suffered a serious setback due to the collapse of a portion of the 3-km-long tunnel near Udhampur and seepage in three other tunnels beyond Katra.Railway engineers, who did not want to be quoted, said the designs of these tunnels were faulty.

Explosives recovered
Jammu, September 7
The Army recovered over 5 kg of explosive material and a cache of ammunition from a hideout of terrorists in the Jamia Wali Gali, Poonch district, today. A spokesman of the Army said seven rounds of RPG, 760 rounds of PIKA and one UBGL were also recovered.

Girl killed by leopard, villagers protest; 5 cops hurt

Srinagar, September 7
A teenaged girl was mauled to death by a leopard, sparking off violent protests that left five policemen injured in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said today.

Shagufta, a Class IX student, was attacked by a leopard while she was sitting in the lawn of her house at Machipora in the Handwara area last evening, the sources said.

They said the leopard dragged the girl to the nearby forest.

The villagers tried in vain to rescue the girl but only managed to recover her mutilated body some 3 km away.

Hundreds of villagers took to streets as the news spread, the sources said.

A police spokesman said a team was deployed at the spot in an ambulance. However, the agitated crowd attacked and damaged the ambulance, injuring five policemen.

The agitated villagers later took the body of the girl to Handwara town in a procession, shouting slogans against the administration and wildlife officials for their alleged failure to put an end to frequent attacks by wild animals.

The residents said the area has been prone to wild animal attacks as three children and a woman were injured in similar incidents during the past one month.

However, the crowd was later assured by senior civil and police officials that adequate steps would be taken to stop such attacks in future, the sources said. — PTI 

Rail tunnel collapses
S.P.Sharma
Tribune News Service

A tunnel on the Udhampur-Kashmir valley rail track that is facing serious problem of water seepage.— Tribune photo by Anand Sharma

Jammu, September 7
Work on the Udhampur-Kashmir valley rail line suffered a serious setback due to the collapse of a portion of the 3-km-long tunnel near Udhampur and seepage in three other tunnels beyond Katra.

Railway engineers, who did not want to be quoted, said the designs of these tunnels were faulty.

Work on these tunnels had been stopped as a portion of the tunnel No. 1 near Udhampur caved in. One end of the tunnel had completely collapsed recently due to rains that triggered thrust from upwards. The tunnel was being constructed by engineers of the Northern Railways who had rushed to New Delhi to discuss the problem they were facing.

Engineers had been summoned from Austria to suggest measures to solve the geological difficulties that the engineers were facing while building the rail track.

Work on the rail track to link the Kashmir valley with rest of the country was slated to be completed this year as was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while inaugurating the Jammu-Udhampur section on April 13, 2005. However, with the geological surprises springing one by one, it might take a few years for the project to be commissioned and by that time, the internal railway system within the Kashmir valley would be started.

It is worth mentioning that work on the rail line had to be stopped last year also when the engineers came across a water body in the middle of the alignment of the 2.4-km-long tunnel No. 3. The design of the tunnel had to be changed for moving ahead.

A six-member team of Austrian engineers will reach here on September 10 to examine the strata where these tunnels are being constructed and suggest remedial measures. Engineers said nearly 800-metre portion of the tunnel had collapsed due to thrust of the mountain above. A sum of about Rs 50 crore has so far been spent on constructing the tunnel on the 292-km-long Udhampur-Kashmir rail route that is being constructed by engineers of the Northern Railway, Konkan and IRCON. About 80 per cent of the route will be under the tunnels and on bridges.

The Konkan Railways is facing a similar problem of seepage of water in tunnel Nos. 1, 2 and 5 between Katra and Reasi.