J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Jammu to boast of world’s highest railway bridge

Kouri (Reasi), November 4 The biggest challenge before the Railways to take train to the Kashmir valley is to construct a bridge between Kouri and Bualak villages over the Chenab. The bridge, under construction, will be world’s highest railway bridge and is expected to be completed by December, 2009

A view of the railway bridge under construction over the Chenab in the northwest area of Jammu. —Tribune photo by Anand Sharma

Gang supplying money to militants busted
Udhampur, November 4
Even as the state police department has come across links of some big business houses of Maharashtra with some militant groups of the state, the local police today busted an inter-state gang involved in providing financial support to militant outfits through Hawala racket. Five persons, including a couple and two minors, were nabbed. An amount of Rs 50 lakh was recovered from the arrested persons. They had concealed the money in CNG cylinder.

2 LeT militants killed
Udhampur, November 4
Security forces today eliminated two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including a self-styled district commander in Doda district.

Azad manages to sail coalition boat
Jammu, November 4
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has completed two years of Chief Ministership and under the most trying circumstances. Particularly when his own coalition partner, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has kept him on his toes.

Jammu hospital makes dead ‘wait’
Jammu, November 4
The dead in this part of the state have to wait for long till they reach a final resting place because the arrangement for transportation of bodies from a premier medical institute of the state has been withheld in the files of the Planning Department.

Despite emergency, 70 to visit PoK
Rajouri, November 4
Even as the uncertainty prevails in Pakistan following the proclamation of emergency, around 70 visitors will reportedly cross over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) tomorrow through Chakan-da-Bagh at Line of Control (LoC) in frontier district of Poonch.

Jammu to boast of world’s highest railway bridge
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service

Kouri (Reasi), November 4
The biggest challenge before the Railways to take train to the Kashmir valley is to construct a bridge between Kouri and Bualak villages over the Chenab. The bridge, under construction, will be world’s highest railway bridge and is expected to be completed by December, 2009

“Constructed at a height of 325 metres, the Melau Valley bridge of Paris is at present the highest bridge in world. Height of the Chenab bridge will be about 359 m”, said deputy chief engineer of the Project Ishwar Chander, adding “our bridge supposed to be 34 metres higher than the highest bridge of the world”.

Being constructed by the Konkan Railway at a cost of Rs 512 crore, the bridge will connect Salal and Laol railway stations. One end of the bridge will touch mouth of the tunnel at Baulak village while the other end would be a halt station at Kouri village.

Work on the project was started in November, 2004. “If everything goes smoothly, the bridge will be completed by December, 2009”, the deputy chief engineer said. “Our men have taken construction of this bridge as a challenge and they have been working hard to complete the dream project in the stipulated time.”

The bridge would be made of trestle steel arch, having a span of 480 metres. Unlike other bridges, less cement and more steel is being used in the project. According to engineers, 25,000 metric tonnes of structural steel would be used in the making of the bridge with a 1315-metre stretch over the Chenab. “Sixteen pillars will be constructed to give support to the bridge, of which seven will be of trestle steel”, Ishwar Chander said, adding that the project had been designed by European designers and experts who had a vast experience in construct of such bridges.

When asked about challenges being faced by the authorities in completing this task, Ishwar Chander said: “There are numerous challenges in the construction of the project in the form of mountainous terrain and geological, climatic and other factors.” The region being in the Zone 5 of the seismic area, the authorities have taken many precautionary measures. 

Gang supplying money to militants busted
Tribune News Service

Udhampur, November 4
Even as the state police department has come across links of some big business houses of Maharashtra with some militant groups of the state, the local police today busted an inter-state gang involved in providing financial support to militant outfits through Hawala racket. Five persons, including a couple and two minors, were nabbed. An amount of Rs 50 lakh was recovered from the arrested persons. They had concealed the money in CNG cylinder.

The arrested persons included Jamali Khan and Danish of Deoband, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and Ajmer, Rajasthan, respectively. This was the second biggest consignment for militants seized by the police in the past one month in this area.

Additional superintendent of police, Udhampur, Anil Mangotra said an operation to nab the gang was launched last night following inputs from the intelligence agencies. The police intercepted a Sumo (3937-JK14) at Jakhani Morh on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. A search of the belongings of the inmates of the vehicle yielded Rs 2.75 lakh. The police personnel got suspicious when they found a CNG cylinder in the vehicle. They recovered Rs 46.80 lakh concealed in the cylinder.

Mangotra said a letterhead of the Hizbul Mujahiddin outfit had been recovered from their possession.

Jamali Khan, along with his Kashmiri wife, used to carry money from different parts of the country to Kashmir for militant outfits.

Only a fortnight ago, the police had arrested Mohammed Sadiq near Nagrota with a huge amount to be handed over to militants in Kashmir. Sadiq told the police that some big business houses of Maharashtra had been pumping funds in Kashmir through Hawala channels. 

2 LeT militants killed
Tribune News Service

Udhampur, November 4
Security forces today eliminated two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including a self-styled district commander in Doda district.

The slain militants have been identified as Shaukat Ali, a self-styled district commander of LeT, and his associate Abdul Latif.

According to reports, the Doda police and the Rashtriya Rifle launched a joint combing operation in the Sonardhawa area of Thathri teshil in Doda district.

During the one-hour-long gun battle, security forces shot dead two LeT militants, including Shaukat Ali,who had been active since 2000. One AK-47 assault rifle with two magazines, one SLR with one magazine and two pouches were 
also recovered from 
the encounter site.

Azad manages to sail coalition boat
Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 4
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has completed two years of Chief Ministership and under the most trying circumstances. Particularly when his own coalition partner, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has kept him on his toes.

The greatest credit which goes to Azad is imbibing the nationalistic fervour in governance. The three years of the PDP rule has turned the state “green”. It is not only the PDP flag which is green, but the buildings and walls across the valley have also been painted green. Besides, the PDP was accused of having been soft towards militancy.

Having spent his political career at the Centre, he had virtually no experience of state politics. It was only in 2001 when he was appointed president of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and it was under his leadership that the Congress managed to win the maximum number of seats. It also enabled the Congress to form a coalition government with the PDP.

Azad promised a lot of things. Chief among them were accountability of the government and the bureaucracy and transparency in its functioning. During his tenure, corrupt officials were fixed.

In two years, Azad certainly set a momentum on both fronts - against insurgency and checked corruption and laid-back attitude in the bureaucracy. However, for the BJP, the two-year-long rule of Azad has been disappointing by any yardstick. State BJP president Ashok Khajuria said, “The plight of the people of Jammu province, including refugees from West Pakistan, remains as pitiable as it was before”.

He said the Congress-led government had failed to meet the day-to-day needs of people. He said Acts, such as the Roshni Act, had enabled the mafia to grab the state land, with farmers and other poor people getting small tracts of the government land.

Jammu hospital makes dead ‘wait’
Tejinder Singh Sodhi
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 4
The dead in this part of the state have to wait for long till they reach a final resting place because the arrangement for transportation of bodies from a premier medical institute of the state has been withheld in the files of the Planning Department.

The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here has only one hearse (a vehicle used to convey dead person).

The principal of the institute admits that they have only one old hearse. But, he says, the hospital provides ambulances for transportation of bodies. Contrary to the claims of the principal, dead bodies, arranged in queues, could be seen with their attendants waiting for their turn for conveyance.

“Thousands of people come daily for the treatment of various ailments but there are many who lose the fight between life and death. Those who die have to wait for hours for their turn for conveyance,” said a doctor attending patients.

The Central government has sanctioned a grant of Rs 100 crore for improving the infrastructure of the hospital to match with that of the All-India Institute for Medical Science, New Delhi. But, despite this whopping grant, no new hearse has been purchased for a long time.

“We had requested the government to provide us with another hearse but we haven’t yet received the money for purchasing the hearse,” said the principal.

Secretary for health and medical education S.D. Jandial said: “The purchase of another hearse requires sanction and funds from the planning department. We also have to create a post for driver. The procedure takes time.”

Despite emergency, 70 to visit PoK
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, November 4
Even as the uncertainty prevails in Pakistan following the proclamation of emergency, around 70 visitors will reportedly cross over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) tomorrow through Chakan-da-Bagh at Line of Control (LoC) in frontier district of Poonch.

Official sources said proclamation of emergency would not prevent them to send around 70 visitors from India to PoK on the Poonch-Rawlakot bus service started as part of confidence building measures between the two countries.

The visitors to PoK would include 30 fresh travellers whereas around 40 visitors from PoK will also return back, the sources said. Meanwhile, the authorities concerned are awaiting a list of the visitors from PoK.