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Over 1 lakh educated unemployed youth in state
Burning of garden trash “suffocates” morning walkers
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BSNL services in bad shape
Politicking over opening of degree college
Pilgrimage tourism faces bad patch
Dumping of waste blamed for lake pollution
Biz Clip
Letter
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Over 1 lakh educated unemployed youth in state
Highlights
Jammu, March 3 However, the startling figures revealed by the state government suggest that more than one lakh educated youth was unemployed in the state. As per the government records, the issue of unemployment was more widespread in Jammu region as compared to that in Kashmir. The total number of unemployed youth in Jammu was more than 60,000, as compared to more than 45,000 in Kashmir. Sources said, “The government was coming up with an employment policy in the state for creating the employment opportunities to tackle the growing unemployment. “The problem of unemployment was one of the biggest challenges that the state has been facing,” the Chief Minister told the Legislative Assembly in his recent speech. He said the government had been devising a policy to cope up with the menace of unemployment and had requested the national and international corporate houses to come and invest in the state. “The mindset of general public in the state is that they want government job, despite the fact that it pays comparatively less than the private firms. We need to change the mindsets.” Omar said. The government also accepted that the number of unemployed agricultural graduates was also increasing. In 2007, the number of technocrats registered with the different employment exchanges was 9,832, while as the number of agricultural graduates was 441 and the postgraduates numbered 219. In 2008, the number of technocrats was 9,628, while as 451 agricultural graduates were registered and the number of postgraduates who were registered were 193. As alleged by the opposition that the incumbent coalition alliance in the state government had promised one government job in each family, the government said it had not made any such commitment. While giving break-up of the total vacancies in the different government departments, government said the total number of vacancies in the gazetted, non-gazetted and class-IV categories was 27,333. From all the departments, highest number of vacancies was in the school education department with the total number of vacancies being 13,973 from which the vacancies in the gazetted class category were 2,616 while as those in the non-gazetted category were 9,619 and in the class-IV category the total number of vacancies was 1,738. However, the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, has alleged that the figures provided by the state government were incorrect and the total number of unemployed youth in the state was more than four
lakhs. |
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Burning of garden trash “suffocates” morning walkers
Jammu, March 3 However, combusting garbage is not new to Jammu city but over the years the composition of garbage has changed and these days it includes rubber, plastics, carpeting, carpet padding and other foam products, fibreglass, petroleum products, vinyl flooring, PVC pipe and asphalt roofing material which are not only adverse to human beings but also to the environment when combusted openly. Morning walkers generally come to parks for aerobic exercises, but they are perturbed over the burning of garbage in and around gardens, as they "cannot breath deep and easy" due to billowing smoke. "Often the garbage is burnt in dustbins or in the open. Even in the garden when dry vegetation is burnt it produces pungent gases," said a morning walker in Shastri Nagar. "It is very problematic for asthma patients too.People come for fresh air but have to inhale smoke. Those who maintain the garden as well as civic amenities must formulate some method to dispose of garbage safely," said a morning walker in Gandhi Nagar. "At times, one cannot even breath deeply as the stink of uncollected garbage along the roads and smell of sewage is appalling," said Narendra Gupta, an enraged morning walker in Rajindra Park, adding that the canal has become a toxic cesspool that emits foul smell. "The climate is damp during morning and the smoke billowing out of the burning garbage and garden waste creates fog in the area," he rued. "Excess burning of garbage releases air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These pollutants can cause diseases such as bronchitis and cancer of respiratory system," said environmentalist AK Sharma. "Now a days, there's more plastic in our trash than ever. When burnt plastics produce high levels of toxic gases like dioxins that form hydrochloric acid in our lungs," he said, seeking some radical solution to the vexed problem. "Ways should be evolved to dispose of waste in an environmentally sound way. People can also help by using paper bags and separating different waste before disposing them on roads while the Municipal Corporation should lay focus on recycling. Landfills or burning can no longer be any safe solutions," he suggested. |
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BSNL services in bad shape
Srinagar, March 3 A number of subscribers, when asked of the usual troubles they face while using BSNL services, counted frequent failure of STD lines, abysmal customer service standards, cross-connections and the almost impossibility of connecting to networks other than BSNL in certain hours among the significance issues. Abdul
Ahad, a retired government employee while waiting for his turn in the lone BSNL’s bill payment office in Srinagar, said he took a post paid mobile connection because he believed its long distance calls were economical as his two sons stayed in New Delhi and Amritsar. “In the last one year since I took the connection, I have received bill only twice and they refuse to give me a duplicate bill. They asked me to download a copy online and to complain to postal department about non-delivery of bills”, he said. Ahad’s main lament was that officials showed no concern for his grievances and passed the buck to the postal department. “No accountability”, the former education official said. In fact, a number of customers were seen doing the rounds of several counters to find out why they were not getting bills. And then there were complaints galore regarding connectivity. A university student, Nasir
Alam, said calls getting disconnected abruptly or getting routed to wrong numbers were not an exception but routine problems. “In the last month alone, I can remember two instances when my call was diverted to customer service care while I dialled my father in
Kanpur. Cross-connections are common,” he said. A senior BSNL official said accountability was an issue in their Kashmir operations. “Officials have been designated with their responsibilities but they are slack. Our infrastructure is among the best but execution is not good. We have been trying to spruce up things,” he said, wishing not to be named. That is why, officials said, its subscribers base had been surpassed by private operators in the valley and in the districts of north Kashmir, like Bandipore and Kupwara and many parts of
Baramulla, people in large numbers have switched over to private services due to poor connectivity of
BSNL. “There are many villages where BSNL does not work at all,” Abdul
Aziz, a policeman from Kupwara, said. |
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All set for Mayor’s election
Jammu, March 3 The magic figure to wrest the seat is to bag votes of 36 of the 70 existing councillors as the seat of Ward 44 has fallen vacant after the death of councillor Kailash Rani. Sitting Mayor and BJP candidate Kavinder Bhushan Gupta, Rajni Bala of the Congress and Surender Singh Shingari, an independent councillor, are leaving no stone unturned to wrest the post of Mayor. All of them exude confidence about their victory claiming they have the support of the required number of councillors. The candidates for the post of Deputy Mayor are the incumbent Dharamvir Singh Jamwal of the NC, Jaswant Singh Soodan (Independent) and Dewarka Nath Chouhry , also an Independent. Independent councillors hold the key to the elections. The candidates are also counting on their own party councillors. There have been instances in the past when party councillors have voted for a rival candidate. Out of the 70 councillors, 27 belong to the Congress, 25 to the BJP, six to the National Conference (NC), two to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), one to the Shiv Sena and nine are Independents. The sitting Mayor claims he has spent Rs 15 crore on the development of the city, which includes sanitation facilities,besides installing the statue of the erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh near Navi Tawi. Gupta said if re-elected, he would bring more development to the city.“I will improve the sanitation and the drainage and make the city green and clean.” He claimed he would easily get a majority of the votes. The Congress has for the first time fielded a women candidate for the post of Mayor. Rajni Bala of the Congress may turn out to be the first women Mayor of the city, if she wins the election. In 2006, she filed her nomination papers for the Deputy Mayor’s post, but later withdrew on the party’s instructions. Rajni Bala has appealed to the councillors to give a chance to a woman to lead the corporation. She assures making the development of the city her top priority,besides implementing the party decisions in this regard. Bala said:“If I win the election, I will work for the development of the city and women empowerment through the Social Welfare Committee.” She claimed she had the support 27 councillors of the Congress, six of the NC and three Independents. The third contestant, Surender Singh Shingari, left the National Conference earlier during the Amarnath land row. He contested the recently held assembly elections as an Independent from Jammu East and finished second after securing 22,000 votes. Shingari is hopeful of victory. His poll plank is to end discrimination against Jammu in the disbursement of funds for development. He promises to take up the issue of unemployment among the youths in the
city, saying “ If elected, I will try to create avenues for employment.” |
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Politicking over opening of degree college
Udhampur, March 3 BJP leader Sunil Sharma, who has unsuccessfully contested the recently concluded Assembly elections, warned the authorities against opening the college in the Marwah area. On the other hand, local MLA Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo has been working overtime to get the college opened in Marwah from where he has secured overwhelming response in the Assembly elections. The BJP leader has been demanding the opening of a new degree college in the Hindu-dominated Paddar area from where majority of the people had cast vote in the favour of the
BJP. Sharma warned that people of Paddar would launch a mass movement if their demand was not fulfilled. He smelt a conspiracy in opening the college in Marwah and regretted that despite being the most neglected area of Kishtwar district, the authorities were not concerned about the people of this belt. “For years together, inhabitants of Paddar have been demanding a degree college due to its geographical disadvantage,” he said and pointed out that majority of the students of this belt could not continue their education due to the non-availability of degree college. He said Paddar belt was the most backward belt in Kishtwar district as far as education was concern. The issue had triggered protests in different parts of the state in the past as well. Even during the Assembly elections degree college issue had dominated the political scene in the Gulabgarh Assembly segment where NC and PDP candidates had raked up the issue of neglecting Mahore subdivision and blamed the previous regime for opening a degree college in
Dharmari. Similarly, Congress leader Mohammad Sharief Niaz has been demanding the opening of a polytechnic college in Thathri. He argued that Thathri was the ideal place for the college as it was the centre place between Doda, Kishtwar and
Bhaderwah. |
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Pilgrimage tourism faces bad patch
Jammu, March 3 The number further goes down in March, when the children in the families appear for their final exams. This is the most difficult period for hotels and lodges in the city, who have been facing the double drubbing of global economic downturn as well. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Vaishno Devi shrine board said, “The footfall of devotees reaches 15 per cent in this period, which is a clear setback for the revenue of the shrine board. We are pinning hopes on the navratra festival that is going to begin on March 27, then the number of devotees will swell automatically.” The lodges built to accommodate the pilgrims have leanest occupancy nowadays. Vaishnavi, the most prominent lodge of the region has been facing similar crisis. This lodge, which otherwise remains crowded with devotees, looks deserted. Ravi Kumar, official at the lodge said, “In peak season, we have huge number of devotees who book the rooms and dormitories many days in advance. We make massive revenue to the tune of Rs 40,000 a day. But these days, it came down sharply to 7,000-8,000 per day only.” The hotel industry, too, has been hit quite badly. Devotees from affluent class prefer to stay in hotels. But now, even they have been waiting for the season to pick up, as the President, All Jammu Hotel and Lodges Association, Inderjit Khajuria said, “The hotel industry in the city survives on the devotees only. It is the worst period for us, when we have scant presence of pilgrims in the hotels. The economic downturn has already given the industry a big jolt.” The hospitality industry that has already borne the burnt of bandhs during the two month agitation of the Amarnath land dispute are feeling the pinch more than ever. |
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Dumping of waste blamed for lake pollution
Srinagar, March 3 According to a survey carried out by the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, University of Roorkee, it has been reported that the dumping of waste through drains is a significant reason for the pollution. It says that huge inflows of nitrogen and phosphorous into the lake are the main sources of pollution apart from houseboats and encroachments. The degradation of the catchment is recognised by the survey report as an important constituent leading to problems in fresh water lakes. Appropriate catchment plan has been stressed to be an important part of any lake management plan. The Dal Lake receives quantities of nitrogen and phosphorous from point sources (incoming nullahs -Telbal, Botikul) and sewage drains and non- point sources like seepage and diffused run- off, says
the report. It describes the lake peculiar in having human habitation settled along its periphery as well as having large population settled in the lake in hamlets, houseboats and doonga boats. Among point sources, the report says, 15 drains release significant quantities of sewage. Of the total phosphorous inflow of 156.62 from all sources, the quantity contributed by drains works out to
56.36 tonnes. In case of inorganic nitrogen (NO3-N) and NH3-N), these figures are 241.18 tonnes and 77.609 tonnes, respectively, with a flow of 11.701 million per year. Similarly, 4.5 tonnes of total phosphates and 18.14 tonnes of nitrogen (NO3-N and NH4-N) are added to the lake from non-point sources, says the report. The report describes the Telbal nullah as the main source of water inflow into the Dal Lake. This is also main source of sediment inflow and hence to control sediment entering the lake, a settling basin has been constructed just before the nullah enters the lake, says the report. The lake, says the report, is believed to have originated as a post-glacial lake, which has been preserved in recent geological times and undergone changes due to progressive
shrinkage. Solid waste generated in human settlements within the lake and on its periphery are one of the contributory factors for deterioration of lake-environment, quotes the report. Nearly, 38,000 people reside within the lake area and with a capacity of nearly 10,000 in houseboats, the population there contributing to solid waste could go up to 48,000 especially during the tourist season. About 2,20, 000 people live on the periphery of the lake, who directly or indirectly contribute to its pollution through indiscriminate disposal of solid waste into its waters, it
further says. Shrinkage in area because of encroachments by hamlets and their floating gardens, reduction in volume by silting caused mainly due to catchment area degradation and increased pollution because of increasing number of lake dwellers and floating gardens are other problems identified during the survey. Change in biodiversity in the lake, data deficiency and institutional deficiency too are highlighted by report. |
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Biz Clip
Jammu: Continuing with its expansion plan in the state, Pataka Industries Pvt Limited has decided to double its share in the tea market from the next fiscal year.
The company has been producing tea ranging from premium to regular segments, namely Mukta, Pataka 502 and Pataka special. The company has been sourcing tea from selected tea estates of Dooars, Upper Assam and Darjeeling on foothill of the Himalayas. At its distributors’ meet chaired by chief executive, operations, tea division, DK Gosh said the focus would be on supply of quality tea in the market.
— TNS |
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Letter
The PDP's demand for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act is nothing but a move to further its own agenda. Though, there has certainly been a decline in militancy-related violence in the state and the peaceful conduct of the Assembly elections are a testimony to it, but still revocation of these Acts is a sensitive issue that must be left to the security set-up. The PDP should know that the situation in the neighbouring Pakistan is explosive, as Taliban has tightened its noose around Pakistan. In such a scenario, any flare up in the situation in the strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be ruled out. The Chief Minister has rightly stated that he will make a move on revocation of these Acts only if there is further improvement in the scenario in the days to come. The political parties must desist from raking up such issues and instead help the government to create conducive atmosphere for the return of total normalcy in the state.
Kavita Gupta Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at jk@tribunemail.com or write in at: Letters, J&K Plus, The Tribune,
Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030. |
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