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Kashmir lifeline reopened
Five more die in snowstorms
3,000 more stranded airlifted
Coldest night in Srinagar, Pahalgam shivers at -14.8
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Power supply restored in 80 pc areas of Kashmir
Restore essential services in Kashmir: Minister
Permanent base camp for Amarnath pilgrims soon
3 Pak soldiers arrested
Bird flu: Chicken sales drop
Gujjar forum seeks Beigh’s resignation
Gujjars oppose ST status for Paharis
Former assistant commissioner in VO net
Custodial death: 4 cops suspended
Purchase of nutritional items decentralised
Relief to Ultras’ Kin
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Kashmir lifeline reopened
Srinagar, February 10 “Today we have allowed traffic from Jammu to Srinagar on the
highway, the only road linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the world,” a traffic police official told
UNI here. He said no vehicle was allowed from here to Jammu. Altogether one hundred vehicles, including those carrying essential
commodities and passengers, stranded on the highway for the past six days, arrived here late
last night and early this morning. The stranded vehicles were allowed to move towards Srinagar last evening after the
Border Roads Organisations (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway cleared
snow and landslides from the road. The drivers had been advised to drive safely because of slippery
road conditions in the morning in Patnitop, Jawahar tunnel, Shatan Nullah and Banihal because of below freezing temperature during
the night. The Indian Airforce airlifted hundreds of stranded passengers
from Srinagar and Jammu. The passengers were charged Rs 200 per head by the authorities
for airlift. — UNI |
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Five more die in snowstorms
Udhampur, February 10 Five more persons have lost their lives due to severe cold and snowstorms during the last 24 hours in different areas of Doda and Reasi districts. Authorities have decided to drop ration and other essential commodities as many parts of Doda, Kishtwar and Bhaderwah still inaccessible as huge snow, ranges from 6 to 10 feet, has accumulated in these hilly areas. Reports said one Mohammed Iqbal of Chanoote Bhaderwah was killed in snowstorm. He was reportedly buried alive in the snow. In another incident Doda Police this morning recovered body of one Dewan Chand from Punekhar area. The deceased was buried in snowstorm while he was moving to his house at Majoot Koora village of this district. SDM
Mahore, Tanbir Iqbal Malik, while confirming death of one person in snowstorm, said that most of the area was still cut off due to snapping of communication system. “Real picture will be emerged with in day or two,” Malik told The Tribune and aired apprehension of massive losses in the upper reaches. Another report said one Jamal Din son of Noor Hussain Gujjar of village Parsholla and one Amariwati of village Jatawa of Bhagwa area of Doda died to due severe cold. Three houses were damaged at Goraka Mohalla, Gandoh, Mirgam and Muthi of Marmat area. One middle school was also damaged in Rajgarh area of Doda district. Meanwhile, authorities have decided to air drop food packets and ration in the worst affected areas as inhabitants of snow-bound hamlets have been facing acute shortage of essential commodities. “We have identified villages to airdrop ration and other essential commodities,” deputy commissioner,
Doda, Khurshid Ahmed Bhat told The Tribune and further informed that district administration has requested the state government to approach the Air Force for this operation. Minister of roads and buildings Jugal Kishore Sharma, who is camping in Bhaderwah, this evening convene an emergent meeting of the officers to launch rescue operation of war footing. He directed the officer to each and every affected areas to mitigate miseries of the masses. |
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Jammu, February 10 Under operation 'Humsafar', about 2,030 stranded civilians and 900 army personnel were airlifted to and fro between Srinagar, Jammu and Udhampur city in IAF planes, a ministry of defence spokesman, Col S D Gowswami said. IAF, which created an air-bridge between Srinagar and Jammu and Udhampur and Srinagar, undertook a total of 33 sorties from Jammu and Udhampur IAF stations to ferry the stranded passengers including army personnel, he said. While 2,000 including 1,100 civilians and 900 jawans were airlifted to and fro between Jammu and Srinagar, 930 civilians were ferried to and fro between Udhampur and Srinagar cities, he said. With the addition of passengers airlifted today, the IAF has ferried a total of 4,993 stranded passengers over the past two days in the state. The state government has also requested the air force to stand by for relief operations in Doda, Baderewah and Kishtwar region following incessant snowfall and bad weather in these areas, he said. Meanwhile a report from Chandigarh quoting Air Commodore SRK Nair, Air Officer Commanding, 12 Wing Air Force, described it as one of the largest airlift operations launched by the Indian Air Force.
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Coldest night in Srinagar, Pahalgam shivers at -14.8
Srinagar, February 10 After experiencing heaviest snowfall in 20 years, the people suffered coldest nights in February so far after the minimum temperature dipped to -6.3°C, freezing parts of the Dal Lake partially near banks, water taps and
nullahs. The rooftops were snow-laden when the people woke up this morning because of 4.3 degree below normal temperature. However, it start melting at 1100 hrs. Taps were also frozen, affecting water supply in most of the areas. At some places, people burnt cardboard, wood and paper to melt the snow in the taps. Earlier, the lake was frozen in 1965 and 1986 when people, including children, played cricket on the frozen surface. It is being said in 1965, a jeep even crossed the frozen lake from one end to
another. Aweather office spokesman said Pahalgam, base camp of Amarnath cave and most attractive tourist destination in south Kashmir, was coldest in the state where temperature fell to minus 14.8 degree this morning. Qazigund on the
Srinagar-Jammu national highway also recorded minus 11.2 degree, more than 9 degree below normal. However, temperature at
Kupwara, which was coldest last week, was recorded at minus 6.5 degree.A UNI report from Kargil said
Dras, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, said the minimum temperature fell to minus 14 degree while maximum was also minus 2 degree.
— UNI |
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Power supply restored in 80 pc areas of Kashmir
Srinagar, February 10 The officials gave this information to the four-member group of ministers deputed by the chief minister to take stock of the post snowfall situation in the valley today. While agriculture minister Abdul Aziz Zargar, public health engineering minister Mohammad Dilawar Mir and minister of state for health and medical education Peer Mohammad Hussain reviewed the situation in south Kashmir, consumer affairs and public distribution minister Taj Mohiuddin held a high level meeting here, officials said. Divisional commissioner Kashmir Mehboob Iqbal and other officers who attended the meeting told the ministers that power and water supply in most of the areas in the valley has been restored and efforts were on to restore power supply in those areas which have experienced heavy snowfall. Road connectivity has also been restored in most of the areas, they said. The ministers were told sufficient stocks of essentials were available for two months in the valley. These include 58 lakh quintals of rice, over 1.60 lakh quintals of wheat and over 42,000 quintals of sugar. The ministers were also informed that they were sufficient quantity of food grains and petroleum products stocked. In south Kashmir at a joint meeting with district administrations of Anantnag and Kulgam, Zargar and Hussain were told that electricity has been restored in 80 per cent areas of both the districts and snow from Anantnag-Pahalgam, Anantnag-Vailoo and Anantnag-Verinag had been cleared so far.
— PTI |
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Restore essential services in Kashmir: Minister
Jammu, February 10 Hakeem also directed the district development commissioner,
Budgam, to gear up its men and machinery to restore essential services like road connectivity, drinking water, power supply in the district on a war-footing. He has asked the district administration to ensure the plying of public transport across the district and to intensify snow-clearing operations by all available resources. He said the upper belts of Budgam district had experienced heavy snowfall and roads leading to these areas should be restored as early as possible. He said an adequate supply of essential commodities was available in the district, but added that the distribution system should be streamlined. He said a close vigil should be kept on shopkeepers and business establishments to check hoarding and black marketing. Hakeem also instructed the deputy commissioner concerned to take all measures to ensure that people did not suffer on account of disruption in supplies. He also asked the district administration to keep a constant vigil on the prices of
commodities. Hakeem also asked the district and sectoral officers to remain available at their respective stations. He also asked for strengthening coordination among all officers and take on the challenge thrown by snowfall with coordinated efforts. |
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Permanent base camp for Amarnath pilgrims soon
Jammu, February 10 Every year four to five lakh pilgrims from different parts of the country visit the cave shrine, which in turn also gives an impetus to the state economy. Talking to The Tribune, Deputy commissioner Jammu Hirdesh Kumar Singh said, “After hectic exercise a piece of 440 kanal of land had been identified near Bapu Asaram at Bhagwati Nagar on the banks of Tawi river.” In fact the work is going on to raise the requisite infrastructure and in all probabilities it would be completed by June this year, he added. The deputy commissioner asserted that this year’s pilgrimage would start from the upcoming permanent base camp. Hitherto MA Stadium, the only sports arena in temple city, had been serving the purpose of makeshift base camp for two months, much to the discomfiture of sportspersons and pilgrims as well. In absence of a permanent base camp the government had also been accommodating the pilgrims in different community halls in the city, which lack basic amenities thereby causing hardships to them. And for their safety in different community halls the government had to deploy services of CRPF making entire procedure cumbersome. Sources close to the Governor Lt-Gen
(retd) S.K. Sinha said, “Last year the Governor, who is also the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board
(SASB), approved the site plan and now he has asked the state government to expeditiously complete the work before June 16, the day when annual pilgrimage official gets underway.” “The Governor twice visited the site to oversee the progress and he hopes to see everything in place before June 16,” added sources. All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association president Inderjeet Khajuria said, “The work was started last year and an amount of Rs 4.50 crore to raise sheds has also been released by the government. However, things have been moving at a slow pace.” He hailed the state government for conceding a long pending demand of the people but at the same time maintained that project should be executed under a master plan and it shouldn’t be rushed through haphazardly. “The work too has been started but it should be expedited under a master plan to come up with a well-equipped camp,” he added. |
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Top Hizbul militant, aide shot
dead
Srinagar, February 10 The self-styled financial chief of the outfit, Farooq Ahmad Dar, alias Haneef Khan, and his aide Javid Ahmad Malik were killed in a 20-hour-long firefight at Noorpora-Tral in the district which ended today, DIG in-charge, south Kashmir, H.K. Lohia said. He said the police, acting on a specific information regarding presence of militants in the house of one Firdous Ahmad at Noorpora village, launched an operation during which militants opened indiscriminate fire on the search party. The fire was returned and in the ensuing encounter which continued till this morning, killing the two militants. SP, Awantipora, Sardar Khan said the militant was looking after the finances of Hizbul Mujahideen all over the state and was involved in about 20 killings since militancy erupted in the state in 1990. He said the hardcore militant was also involved in a car blast near a reputed school in Sonawar area of the city in 2006, which left six persons dead and 12 others injured. Khan had joined militancy in the early days and rose to the ranks of a financial chief, the police officer said. He said the second militant had joined militancy in 2001. The SP said the house in which the militants were hiding was also destroyed in the gun battle. The police also arrested a militant of the same outfit Jehangir Ahmad Lone, alias Firdous from Rangwara-Keller in Pulwama district, a police spokesman said.
— PTI |
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3 Pak soldiers arrested Jammu, February 10 The three soldiers belonging to Chenab Ranger entered into Indian territory and were apprehended near border fencing on zero line inside Indian territory at Suchetgarh border outpost, official sources said. They have been identified as Shahid, Amjad and Naseem of Sialkot-based of 19 Punjab regiment of the Pakistan army. Pakistani currency of Rs 17,000 was also recovered from them, sources said. During preliminary interrogation, the arrested Pakistani soldiers claimed that they had entered into Indian side by mistake, sources said. Border Security Force officials said as the three Pakistani soldiers crossed the border accidentally, they would be handed over back to Pakistan army tomorrow after questioning them. When contacted, Border Security Force PRO told The Tribune, “Yes, we have arrested three Pakistani's from the border as they crossed over to Indian side at Suchetgarh sector of R.S. Pura in Jammu.” However anything more in this regard can be said only after questioning them, he added.
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Bird flu: Chicken sales drop
Srinagar, February 10 Still there is enough chicken stock in the valley, which remained cut off from the rest of the country for six days due to snowfall and landslides, poultry dealers said. They said though there was no report of any bird flu case, the sale had come down by 35 to 40 per cent in the valley. Normally people were consuming about 30, 000 birds per day. However, the number goes up during marriage and festival seasons. With the decline, import of birds from northern states, including Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, has also come down, they said. Official sources said samples of two migratory birds found dead in a wetland near the border in Jammu tested negative in a Bhopal laboratory. The authorities have already taken adequate measures to prevent transportation of any such virus into the state. They said there was no question of bird flu virus reaching the state from West Bengal. There are several states in between which are still safe, they added. Officials said a constant check was being carried out at different places even though there was no case of bird flu reported from any part of the state so far. The Animal Husbandry Department organised awareness camps to make people aware about various ailments afflicting cattle and poultry birds, including bird flu, in the valley. They said so far the samples taken for bird flu were found negative and there was no need to worry. A check post has been set up at
Lakhanpore, the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Punjab, where doctors and other staff members of the Animal Husbandry Department were posted to check poultry birds before allowing them to enter the state. Similarly a check post has been set up at
Qazigund, they said, adding they had made all arrangements to prevent the virus to enter the state. However, for precautionary measures the department has decided to impose a ban on the movement of poultry during night when proper checking was almost impossible, they said.
— UNI |
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Gujjar forum seeks Beigh’s resignation
Jammu/Rajouri, February 10 In a press statement issued here, state president of Gujjar Bakerwal joint Forum (GBJU) Haji Shamsher Ali Boken has said, “The Deputy CM is trying to dilute the tribal characteristics of nomads in order to accommodate his own community of Pahari speaking people in the schedule tribune category.” Accusing Beigh of being the real enemy of the Gujjars, he said, “He wants to grab the legitimate right and constitutional safeguards available to the Gujjars, that’s why in 2006 he was instrumental in passing a resolution in the state assembly demanding the central government to grant tribal status to Pahari speaking people.” He said that Pahris were not a backward class. Referring to the Constitution of India, Boken argued, “There is no provision to enlist any community as Schedule Tribe on the basis of its language or location. So what are the criteria to give ST status to Pahari speaking people?” |
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Gujjars oppose ST status for Paharis
Jammu, February 10 Reacting to the statement of deputy chief minister, Muzzaffar Hussain Baig, who is also vice-chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Pahari Advisory Board, prominent Gujjar leaders today alleged that this would be opposed by them “tooth and nail”. The Gujjar leaders, while addressing a press conference argued “What is the criteria of giving ST status to Paharis as there is no provision to enlist a community as Schedule Tribe on the basis of its language or location”. They alleged that the movement of the Pahari-speaking people had turned in its demand of granting ST status to the anti-Gujjar movement and had lodged a misinformation campaign against the tribal and nomad Gujjars of the state which constituted the third largest ethnic and lingual identity, having 25 per cent population in the state. |
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State lok adalats earn CJI pat
Jammu, February 10 Addressing the valedictory function of Lok Adalat Week at the High Court complex here last evening and the concluding session of the three day judicial workshop on “Techniques and Tools for Enhancing Timely Justice”, jointly organised by the National Judicial Academy and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, here today, Justice Balakrishnan said, the lok adalats significantly contribute in speedy disposal of cases. He pointed out, around three crore cases were pending in various courts in the country despite stupendous efforts by the courts to deliver speedy justice. He said, of these 62,000 cases were pending in the Supreme Court. Justice Balakrishnan observed the problem of staggering arrears in the courts could be mitigated by Lok Adalats, mediation and conciliation mechanism. The Chief Justice of India congratulated the judiciary and judicial officers in Jammu and Kashmir for taking keen interest in organising lok adalats. He said in geographically difficult areas like Jammu and Kashmir, lok adalats are much more useful for settlement of disputes. He also gave away cheques to the parties whose cases were settled during the Lok Adalat Week. |
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Former assistant commissioner in VO net
Srinagar, February 10 A VO spokesman said ACD Bashir Ahmad Wani, who was also a programme coordinator of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the district along with officials of SICOP and proprietor of an SSI unit purchased job cards and other stationary items at highly exorbitant rates thereby causing a loss of over Rs 7.45 lakh to the state exchequer. Wani in connivance with other officials of the assistant commissioner’s office, officials of SICOP and the owner of Roshni Off Set Press Srinagar had purchased 50,000 job cards and other stationary items on exorbitant rates worth Rs 9,94,350 in 2006. While Wani purchased job cards at the rate of Rs 13.60 per card from the Roshni Off Set Press, Srinagar, in 2006, his successor purchased the same job card for Rs 2.14 per card in 2007. Calculations also revealed that a loss of Rs 7,45,660 had been caused to the state exchequer by purchases on exorbitant rates.
— UNI |
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Custodial death: 4 cops suspended
Jammu, February 10 The body of 57-year-old Om Prakash, who had been detained by the police in connection with the theft of BSNL cables in Vijaypur area of Samba district, was found hanging inside the lock-up of Vijaypur police station early yesterday.
— PTI |
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Purchase of nutritional items decentralised
Jammu, February 10 “The government would incur Rs 40 crore on supplementary nutrition for the children of the state. To promote transparency, the department has decentralised purchase of nutritional items to district level.” While appreciating the management for establishing well-equipped pre-schooling model centre, Vakil called for making it accessible to poor and needy children as well. Describing child labour as a blot on the modern civil society, Vakil asked businessmen, industrialists and well-off people to stop practice of employing minors in their establishments forthwith. |
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Relief to Ultras’ Kin
Jammu, February 10 In a statement issued, Sharma said, “Such moves not only expose the real face of the coalition government but also pose a threat to the security and integrity of the country.” He said, “Army personnel sacrifice their lives for our nation but they are being ignored. The government should better give relief and employment package to their families instead of thinking about militants and their families.” He appealed to the youth of the state to join hands with the BJP to oppose such moves of the government. |
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