Jammu, May 1
Though union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav claimed to have taken stringent measures to ease the travel process across the country, the scene at the Jammu railway station tells all-together a different tale.

Going by the passengers, the station is being run by callous railway staff. “Most of the time you would find nobody sitting at the enquiry counter and even if they are there no one bothers to answer your queries,” says Bhusan Kumar, a businessman, who travels frequently to other parts of the country.

“Whenever you have any requirement, the people concerned are never available,” he adds.

Passengers at the station also rue non-availability of staff during night. “Barring few security guards, majority of the staff on night duty are not available, and if one has some problem he has to go from pillar to post to redress that problem,” says Jammu resident Avtar Krisan.

They also complain that they are not allowed to take their luggage along with them to the reservation counter, which increases the chance of things getting stolen.

“They ask the passengers to keep their luggage outside and moreover they won’t take any responsibility if the luggage gets stolen,” said a passenger.

“The passenger have to wait for their turn in long queues which takes hour together and for that period of time, the luggage has to be kept outside in open,” he adds.

The passengers at the station are also subjected to various problems due to the tight security arrangements at the station.

Even though the close circuit cameras installed at the railway station remain nonfunctional, the authorities claim that proper security arrangements have been in-place at the most sensitive railway station of the country.

“This is nothing else but harassment in the name of security, first they check it with the help of X-ray machine, metal detectors and then they frisk it by hand,” said Kirat Singh, a local resident.

He says, “At airports the luggage are not being checked with the help of X-rays but here they do it by every possible means, thus they not only waste the passenger’s precious time, but also create lot of confusion for them.”

When contacted, the officials at the Jammu railway station refused to comment.

Rajouri, May 1
The Army authorities may term this as an absurd allegation, but the illegal sale of fuel, both petrol and diesel meant for running Army vehicles, is going on openly in this garrison town and its outskirts.

According to sources, some armymen are selling the fuel and this illegal sale is going on in Kallar, Chingus, Thandi Kassi, Darhal and Bhimber Gali areas. The illegal sale is being done through some selective shopkeepers, they added. They said even the private vehicle owners didn’t hesitate in buying Army fuel, which cost them much lesser than the market rates.

“Whereas the market rate of a litre of petrol is about Rs 47, the petrol for the purpose of Army vehicles is being sold to the selected shopkeepers at Rs 40, who then sell it to the private vehicle owners at around Rs 42. Similarly diesel is being sold to these shopkeepers at Rs 25 as compared to the market rate of Rs 32. These shopkeepers then sell this diesel at around Rs 28,” a reliable source said.

“The modus operandi is that some armymen mostly drivers come along with 20-50 litre canes filled with fuel and drop these at some selected shopkeepers who are associated with illegal sale of fuel. These armymen later return in a day or two for payment,” sources added.

“Since we are earning good money out of the sale of Army fuel, the source of fuel hardly matters,” said a shopkeeper in Bhimber Gali area, located just close to Bhimber Gali brigade headquarter.

Police sources said the police on many occasions has recovered army fuel from private shopkeepers. “On May 25 last year, the police seized 150 litre of Army diesel from a shop in Ghambir Brahamana area. The shop owner had managed to get the diesel from the Army at throwaway prices and was selling it in open market,” the police sources said.

Earlier, on March 26 in the same year, the police recovered 300 litre of diesel from a house in Kaller village here and had arrested two persons selling Army fuel. The police sources said during investigations, the accused had divulged the names of Army units from where they had purchased the fuel.

Jammu-based defence spokesman Lt-Col S.D. Goswami termed the reports of illegal sale of Army fuel by some armymen in this frontier district as “baseless.” “Nothing has come to our knowledge,” the spokesman said.

Jammu, May 1
The region is slowly losing its cultivable land. Despite a statewide ban on construction activity on agricultural land, the practice is going on unabated. The otherwise seemingly green fields are slowly but steadily converting into “concrete jungles.”

“Nobody is worried about the government decree of prohibiting any construction activity on agricultural land. The construction work is going on unabated,” Bikram Chand, a resident of Jammu said.

People said they themselves had seen green fields in the area getting converted into residential colonies.

“What once used to be a lush green field is now a residential colony. I have seen that people are converting their green fields into residential colonies,” Preetam Singh, another resident said.

Given the tremendous rise in the prices of real estate in and around Jammu, people are fast selling their cultivable land for residential purposes.

“People want fast money and as the real estate prices in and around Jammu are high, farmers are fast selling their land for the construction of residential houses,” Preetam added.

The famed “basmati rice” of Jammu has also suffered due to the ongoing construction of residential buildings on the fields.

According to official records there has been a remarkable decline in the area of land that was being used for the cultivation of basmati rice in the region, thus hampering the produce.

“The land under cultivation for basmati rice has decreased as people are selling the land where rice was cultivated. The produce of basmati rice has seen a remarkable decline,” an official of the state agriculture department said. He added, “Not only our department, but people themselves need to take initiatives to stop the sale of the agricultural land.”

Srinagar, May 1
Traffic on the Srinagar airport road was today affected for an hour after students and teaching staff of DAV High School protested against the sale of school. The students and teaching staff of more than 60-year-old school today took to streets and blocked the main road at Magarmal Bagh.

Raising slogans against the school management, the students and teachers said the sale of the school building and its ground was illegal.

“Give us our school back,” they demanded and appealed to authorities to intervene and save their future. They alleged that Kashmiri Pandit management without taking the parents and teaching staff into confidence had reportedly sold the school property. However, one person, who removed the school boards said they have purchased the entire complex from the management. We have legal documents, including the sale deed, he said.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded for an hour as there was no police official. However, the traffic was allowed after a group of police personnel from Shergrahi police station reached the spot and assured the agitators that they would take the matter with the higher authorities. The DAV school was one of the leading schools before the Pandit management migrated from here after the eruption of militancy. 
— UNI

Pouni (Reasi), May 1
Faced with the problem of shortage of drinking water, residents of Pouni block in Reasi district, have threatened to launch an agitation. The residents complained that the authorities concerned had failed to mitigate their woes. Although a huge amount has been spent on various schemes implemented for streamlining the water supply, the plans and programmes seem to be remain only on papers, as 80 per cent of the population faces shortage of water.

“We have approached the authorities concerned a number of times, but except assurances nothing has been done so far”, rued Bhagwan Singh, sarpanch of Ransoo. He said the shortage of water remained throughout the year, but the situation had become worse due to the increase in temperature.

“There are only a few natural water sources in this belt and most of these sources become dry during summer”, the sarpanch said.

A deputation of the residents of Parkah area of Pouni block met Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was in Reasi to preside over the meeting of the district development board (DDB). “We brought our problem to the notice of the Chief Minister who assured to take effective steps to mitigate our woes”, said Niranjan, a resident.

R.C. Gupta, executive engineer, public health engineering (PHE), Reasi, while admitting that there was shortage of drinking water, said a dugwell would soon be constructed which would solve the problem. “Natural sources have become dry and consumption has increased manifold,” he said.

Gupta claimed that a number of water supply schemes were being launched in the Pouni block, but he avoided the query about the total demand and supply of water in the area.

Jammu, May 1
Barring the north-eastern states, the countrywide registration of pilgrims for the annual Amarnath yatra would begin tomorrow.

Official sources said with a total quota of 2,86,680 pilgrims for this year’s pilgrimage, designated branches of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited (JKBL) across the country, would initiate the process tomorrow.

The registration of people would also get underway at the JKBL’s counter at the exhibition ground here tomorrow.

Located in south Kashmir, at a height of 13,700 feet above sea level, the cave shrine attracts about four lakh to five lakh pilgrims every year.

Official sources said this year, the JKBL had been given a total quota of 2,86,680 pilgrims, out which the state had a share of 12,960.

Punjab has been given a quota of 29,400 pilgrims, which can be availed from the JKBL branches in Amritsar, Batala, Bhatinda, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, Mandi, Govindgarh, Mansa, Moga, Mohali, Pathankote and Phagwara.

Sources added that Gujarat had a quota of 34,800, Haryana 21,000, Himachal Pradesh 2,160, Karnataka 1,080, Kerala 240, Goa 120, Maharashtra 22,200, Uttarakhand 1,200, Tamil Nadu 1,080 and Uttar Pradesh had been given the highest quota of 58,200.

However, in north-eastern states, the JKBL had authorised its Kolkata branch to provide the facility to the people.

Adhering to the past practise, a nominal sum of Rs 15 would be charged per registration by the JKBL, which had also tied up with a private insurance company to offer an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh to the desirous people on a minimal premium of Rs 30.

Dr Arun Kumar, CEO, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) said the two-month pilgrimage would get underway on June 18 and would close on August 16.

This year, the pilgrims would be put up at Bhagwati Nagar where a newly constructed permanent base camp has been set up.

Governor Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd), who is also the chairman, SASB, had personally monitored the construction work of the base camp.

H.K. Singh, DC, Jammu, said this year’s pilgrimage from Jammu would start from Bhagwati Nagar.

Srinagar, May 1
Pahalgam, a premier hill resort situated at an altitude of 2,130 metres in south Kashmir, will remain open to holiday-makers during the Amarnath yatra commencing next month.

“There is no restriction on tourists - domestic or foreign - intending to visit Pahalgam. It will remain open to visitors even during Amarnath yatra,” director (Tourism) Farooq Ahmed Shah said.

The annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas,  40 km from Pahalgam, is likely to start  from June 18.

The number of tourists visiting Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual pilgrimage, drops considerably during the yatra period as rumour-mongers spread canards suggesting that the hill resort has been closed to facilitate easy movement of pilgrims.

Clearing doubts that the hill resort may be closed during the yatra, Shah said security usually gets beefed up during the pilgrimage but that does not mean the tourists will be barred from visiting the hill station.

Situated at the confluence of the streams flowing from Sheshnag lake and the Lidder river, Pahalgam is Kashmir’s premier resort, cool even during the height of summer when the maximum temperature there does not exceed 25°Celsius.

Famous for its natural splendour, Pahalgam has snow-clad mountain peaks on all sides, a white water river that traverses the bottoms of the narrow valley, a weather that makes the summers a charm and enough scope for trekking, golf, angling and pony rides. — PTI

Jammu, May 1
After the protest by various Sikh organisations here following the alleged distortion of Sikh history in the text book of Class III, in which fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjun Dev, was shown to have visited Kashmir instead of the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind, the Jammu and Kashmir state board today regretted the ‘mistake’.

According to a spokesman of the Jammu and Kashmir state board of school education, “the hurt caused to the Sikh community is highly regretted, the book is being taught for the past 11 years and nobody till date took up the issue, however we have issued the instructions that the name of fifth Sikh Guru be immediately replaced by the sixth Sikh Guru,” the spokesman said.

Adding, he said, “The test book stands adopted from the NCERT, New Delhi, published in 1997 and represented in 2003 in which it was written that Guru Arjun Dev had visited Kashmir, but according to Sikh history sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind, had visited the place.

The issue would not have stretched further, had anyone brought up the issue with the authorities earlier.” 

Srinagar, May 1
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Hurriyat Conference today expressed grief at the demise of prominent Gandhian, social activist and MP Nirmala Deshpande.

In a condolence message, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad described Nirmala Deshpande as a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi who spent her entire life in the propagation of his thoughts and building a society based on amity and understanding.

The Chief Minister, who visited the residence of Dr Nirmala Deshpande in New Delhi today, paid tributes to her and laid wreath on her mortal remains. Azad said Dr Deshpande was widely revered by people in and outside the country for her contribution towards building bridges among people and promoting the spirit of brotherhood and tolerance. He said she was deeply committed to human life and secular values.

The Chief Minister recalled her efforts in establishing people to people contact between India and Pakistan resulting in greater understanding and trust on both sides. He said the late Gandhian had a special attachment with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and had been frequently visiting here to work for peace and amity.

The people of the state, he said, would always remember her for the love and affection she had showered on them.

A spokesman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, lauded Dr Deshpande’s role in raising voice for the oppressed. She felt the pain and sufferings of the people of Kashmir and visited the state several times, the spokesman said. He added that Dr Deshpande raised her voice against the oppression in Kashmir.

The APHC spokesman said Dr Deshpande had along struggle for improvement in the Indo-Pak relations and restoration of peace in South Asia. She was a staunch supporter of Indo-Pak peace process and wanted the framing of South Asian Union on the pattern of European Union so as to maintain friendly relations among the South Asian nations, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, May 1
The tourism potential in the picturesque Kashmir valley is all set to get a further boost with the Jammu and Kashmir Government carrying out a major project for beautifying the area along the bank of the Jhelum. The three-year project that was started in August 2005 is about developing the 3.6 km riverbank from Sonawar to Tankipora with an investment of Rs 255 million in three years.

Construction work for exquisite parquets, recreational resort spots and other recreational facilities on both sides of the river is being carried out at a fast pace to meet the deadline August 2008.

“The project has been carried out in two phases. One part comes under the union water resource ministry, which we call anti-erosion works and the internal side of the river comes under that project. Another part is of beautification, which includes development of the site. The total cost of the project is around Rs 25 crore. It’s just a start,” said Najibullah Khan, the chief engineer with the Irrigation Department in Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from beautification of the riverbanks, parks and walkways, a highlight of this project is the preservation of heritage structures along the stretch between Sonawar and Tankipora.

Besides providing enchanting scenic sights while boating along the river, this project also envisages regular and lucrative earning for hundreds of locals living within the vicinity of the riverbank.

Once the beautification project is completed, many unemployed youngsters stand to gain from well-paid employment opportunities.

“The government has taken a good decision. It is a really beautiful river and has been flowing here since ages. We wish it should be developed the way it is going on currently,” said Farooq Ahmed, a local.

“It’s really a good work that has been going on here. We all used to come here in Shikaras for the ride. It will definitely benefit even our future if the beautification work continues here and unemployment would surely decrease since the local youths would get a lot of things to do. Moreover, if travelling would be done by the Shikaras, it would also decrease the pollution level of the place,” said Mohammad Jabbar, another local.

The river traverses a distance of 250 km across the valley in its course from Khannabal to Wullar Lake.

The state's tourism industry has witnessed a healthy boom in the past couple of years as the total number of arrivals, including foreigners, crossed the figure of 6,00,000 in 2005-06 from 1,91,000 recorded in 2003-04. — ANI