Jammu, May 2
The much-needed expansion of the parking area (apron) of the city airport has hit a political roadblock. The state government has asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to pay the market price for 53 kanals required for the expansion, whereas the previous government had decided to transfer the land free of cost.

With this, the efforts to make the airport of international standards are in doldrums. The expansion is required for parking of planes as recently more flights between Delhi-Jammu and Srinagar were started.

Inquiries revealed that the issue of transfer of 53 kanals for the expansion of apron at the airport terminal had got stuck because of differences between the AAI and the state Civil Aviation Department.

Sources revealed former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had directed the state Civil Aviation Department in March last year to hand over the land to the AAI free of cost. But with the change in the government and the administration, the approach changed.

In a meeting chaired by the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, and attended by the Director, AAI, Director, Civil Aviation, and other state officers recently, the AAI was asked to pay the market price for the land.

Director, state Civil Aviation Department, Capt S Katoch told The Tribune they could not transfer land free of cost. “The airport is a public sector undertaking. It is a commercial entity and gets revenue by charging for various facilities it provides. Thus, the land will be leased out to it at a market price, as we too had bought this 90 kanals from private owners,” he said.

Katoch said the Civil Aviation Department wanted to use the land to build infrastructure for parking state planes and the VIP arrival lounge. “We can let go some surplus land to the AAI, but only at the market price.”

The sources said the matter was stuck as the AAI would not get ownership of the land. “The land can be given on lease and the ownership will remain with the state government.”

Rajouri, May 2
Major forest fires are raging in forests across Rajouri district even as a Bakkarwal survived unhurt as his house was fully gutted in a fire in Nowshera forests here this afternoon. There were also reports of a forest fire in the Keeri sector near the LoC.

Local sources told The Tribune that fire had gutted a large forest area across the district. In Sunderbani, fires occurred in Kalidhar, Bindi and Larya forests, whereas in Kalakote tehsil, fire raged in Nathiani, Kanglar, Moghla and Treru forests.

The sources further said in Nowshera tehsil, house of Muhamad, a Bakkarwal, was damaged in a fire though he survived unhurt. In the Nowshera area, fires damaged forest cover in Manpur, Bhawani, Ser Makri and Ghai areas.

The sources said forest fire was also raging near the Bharat Ghala

forward post in the Keeri sector of the LoC. They added that the fire had broken out across the LoC and travelled to this side. The Army was making all efforts to control the fire, they added.

Katra (Reasi), May 2
Even as the numbers of devotees to Mata Vaishnodevi is likely to break all records this year, the holy town is grappling with the worst-ever shortage of drinking water.

Devotees as well as locals are drinking unsafe water as safe water sources have dried up

The daily supply to Katra is only 5 lakh gallons against the requirement of 12 lakh gallons “The supply of water has been further reduced to 3.5 lakh gallons during the past one week”, alleged local MLA Baldev Raj who pointed out that some sources from where the authorities use to fetch water had turned dry due to the scorching heat.

Katra is a small town with a population of about 22,000 persons but witnesses on an average 75,000 floating population per day. This whopping figure is considered as `floating' in official terms but in reality it is a a sort of `permanent' population as the yatra to the holy cave of Mata Vaishnodevi continues round the clock for 365 days-.

Although many projects were started to cope with scarcity of clean drinking water, especially during the summer, this continues with the number of yatris increasing with every passing day. Hoteliers of this holy town have to purchase water regularly to meet their requirements. “On an average every hotelier purchases water worth Rs 60000 to Rs 70000 per month”, Rakesh Wazir, a local hotelier, told the Tribune.

On June 29, 2005, the then Minister for Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Qazi Mohammad Afzal had inaugurated a water supply scheme at Serli near Katra to meet the drinking water needs of Katra.

The Rs. 867.80-lakh accelerated urban water supply scheme yielded 6 lakh gallons of water daily. But three years after its commissioning this scheme virtually failed to supply adequate water. It is a hard reality that 70 per cent of the water being supplied in the town is not suitable for health as this water is being drawn from raw sources.

Local MLA said that a Rs 73-crore scheme had been approved by the Centre to supply 12 lakh gallons of water in Katra town.

Jammu, May 2
Even though summer is yet to reach its peak, water scarcity has already hit Jammu. And taking advantage of the situation private water tanker operators have started fleecing people.

Official sources told The Tribune that these private water tanker operators not only charged at will for water supplied, but also had created a virtual monopoly, keeping others at bay from the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department’s filling station in Company Bagh on the MA Stadium premises.

It may be stated here that the Company Bagh filling station supplies water to tankers, both private and those of the PHE Department.

“For 4,000 gallons of water, the private water tanker operators pay just Rs 100 per tanker. But they supply it to people at a rate anything between Rs 400 and Rs 1,000 within the city and on its outskirts,” added sources.

They said the government had not fixed any rates for water being supplied to people by the private water tanker operators, who charged high prices.

Though the PHE Department had provided the facility to all and anybody could take a tanker full of water for Rs 100, owners of private water tankers did not allow any “outsider” to compete with them, they added.

“If the centrally-located PHE filling station is made accessible to all, the cost of water would come down. It would also provide livelihood to several others, who though own water tankers but are denied access to water for obvious reasons,” said a PHE official.Despite fully aware of the malpractice, the PHE authorities had turned a blind eye to it because of political patronage enjoyed by some private water tanker operators, he said. He added on an average approx 200 water tankers filled water from the Company Bagh station daily.

Jammu West Assembly Movement president Sunil Dimple said the private water tanker operators continued to blackmail people and charge exorbitantly for water.

Besides, the PHE water tankers, who lift water from the Company Bagh station, have been selling it to the construction agencies instead of supplying it to the affected people. However, PHE Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din feigned ignorance about the malpractice and assured action would be taken immediately.

Jammu, May 2
As temperature continues to soar in the Jammu region, breaking the record of previous decades, people are finding some solace in the Ranbir Canal. The mercury in Jammu has already crossed 40°C, which has broken the records of almost 70 years and the Meteorological Department has not forecast any respite for residents in the coming days.

“It is so hot outside that we decided to take a bath in the canal. As soon as I returned from school, I went to take a plunge in the canal,” said Praveen, a class V student.

Local residents say they have never seen such a scorching heat so early in summer.

“This is a transitional phase, where Sun is closer to the tropical region. So for the next few more days there will be no respite for Jammu people,” said Sonam Lotus, director of the Meteorological Department.

Doctors in Jammu have advised people to take a lot of fluids and juices to beat the heat. “After temperature breaches the 40°C mark, sunstrokes become common. So in order to beat the heat, people should take a lot of fluids, including lemon water and juices, to keep them hydrated,” said Dr Guatam Sharma.

He added, “People who suffer sun strokes die due to dehydration. So they are adviced not to venture out in the Sun.”

The Met Department says the rise in daytime temperature will continue for a few more days and after which it will stabilise.

“Due to the transitional phase of the Sun, the heatwave will continue for some more time. As our country falls in the tropical region, the daytime temperature will continue to soar and will stabilise when the phase ends,” Lotus said.

Meanwhile, the young and the old are enjoying splashes in the Ranbir canal to beat the heat.

Jammu, May 2
The government has changed school timings following the repeated appeals of parents. Now, the parents are demanding for summer vacations in advance. According to the new timings, the schools will open at 7:30 am and close at 1:30 pm from Monday onwards.

Talking to the Tribune, chief education officer (CEO) Suresh Sharma said: “The school timings have been changed considering the constant rise in temperature. This will give relief to students to some extent as some schools are having inadequate infrastructure while others are facing water shortage.”

Meanwhile, parents of schoolchildren are demanding that in view of the rising daytime temperature, the schools should declare summer vacation in advance in the region.

“The heat is intolerable for us, how could these small kids manage to cope up with the scorching sun. The state government and the school administration should declare summer vacations in advance,” Sangeeta Khajuria of Gandhi Nagar said.

The situation is worst in government schools where due to lack of proper infrastructure, classes are being conducted in open under the scorching sun and teachers and students are facing hardships.

“Some schools are running without ceiling fans. One can imagine how difficult it becomes for the students to concentrate on their studies under such circumstances,” Sumit Mahajan of Bakshi Nagar said.

Jammu, May 2
State BJP president Ashok Khajuria today alleged that the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and the previous Congress-led coalition government in the state ditched the Ladakh region.

Talking to mediapersons here at the party headquarters, Ashok Khajuria while welcoming the decision of the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) for extending its support to the NDA in the Lok Sabha election said the BJP had always alleged that neither the Centre nor successive state governments were serious about Jammu and Ladakh, and, hence, always ignored them on the expense of concentrating on the development of the Kashmir valley.

Khajuria said: “Be it share of jobs in the Civil Secretariat, admissions in professional colleges or allocation of funds, this UPA government at the Centre and successive governments in the state did not bother to ensure equal treatment towards Jammu and Ladakh.”

He added that the decision of the LUTF to snap its ties from the UPA and supporting the NDA to form the government at the Centre was the result of anti-Jammu and anti-Ladakh policies being pursued by the UPA government.

Khajuria said during the NDA rule at the Centre, the Jammu, Kashmir and the Ladakh regions were treated equal at all levels.

Jammu, May 2
After two real Hindu sisters embraced Christianity against the wishes of their family, the police registered another case against religious preacher AM Samuels of Kerala on the grounds that by preaching Christianity he had been creating fissures and hatred among different communities.

It may be stated here that recently two sisters Ranjana Sharma and Rekha Sharma of Jullaka Mohalla had embraced Christianity after under the influence of the religious preacher. Before converting to Christianity both the siblings had reportedly gone missing. Official sources told The Tribune that after the case surfaced inviting outcry from a particular community, an FIR had been registered at Pucca Danga police station.

A senior police officer said, “Both sibling were postgraduates from Jammu University and after they went missing two months back their father Raj Gopal Sharma had lodged a missing complaint with Pucca Danga police station.”

The religious preacher had already been arrested, he said. He added that the whereabouts of the sisters were not known as yet. We are investigating the case and have got some clues about their presence in Mumbai, he added.

Sources said the police registered the case on the direction of a local court under Section 153-A, RPC. They said both girls used to attend religious sermons of AM Samuels before they went missing. A case for forcible conversion had also been registered against Samuels, the sources said, adding that the religious preacher had been influencing people from other religions to embrace Christianity.

Srinagar, May 2
Ongoing fighting with the Taliban in the Swat, Dir and Buner region on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has forced Pakistan to withdraw a large number of troops from the PoK.

Highly placed defence sources told The Tribune that Pakistan had removed its army regulars from areas abutting the Rajouri and Poonch areas in the Jammu division as well as from across the LoC in the Kashmir division. While the defence official did not wish to reveal many details, he put the number of army regulars moved from territory adjoining the state to over 10,000.

The official said Pakistan had deployed two brigades of the Pakistan army from Peshawar (Pakistan’s north-western border with Afghanistan) across the LoC after the Mumbai attacks in December last year fearing retaliation from India. Over the past few days, Pakistan had pulled out an entire battalion (over 1,000 men) of the elite Baloch Regiment (formed in 1956 by the amalgamation of pre-Partition Indian Army’s 8 Punjab, 10 Baloch and Bahawalpur Regiments).

These Baloch troops were deployed in areas bordering Rajouri district close to Peer Badeser in the area of the Mangla Dam Reserve in the PoK Mirpur district. Two companies of the Azad Kashmir Regiment (one of the six infantry regiments) had been withdrawn from across the Machail area in Kupwara district. Anther two companies of the Northern Light Infantry (NLI) were removed from area of the Neelam river that enters Pakistan from India in the Gurais sector of the LoC and runs west till it meets the Jhelum north of Muzzafarabad.

Sources said the Indian Army had done some redeployment in view of the changed deployment across the border, besides stepping up surveillance capabilities.

The sources basing their inputs on intelligence and satellite imaging reports said the Pakistan army troops were being moved to Swat, Dir and Buner areas, where Pakistan was engaged in a fierce gun battle with the Taliban.

It was further said the military strategists in Pakistan had chose to use troops from the NLI, as they were highly trained in mountain warfare and comprised of Gilgitis, Baltis, Brushos, Wakhis and Khowars, who would be comfortable in Swat.

Udhampur, May 2
Criticising the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department for its failure to streamline the supply of essential commodities in remotest areas of Doda district, former minister and member of the Legislative Council Mohammad Sharief Niaz said today that there was an acute shortage of ration in Bhalesa tehsil of the Bhaderwah area.

Niaz alleged that most of the outlets of the CAPD were closed due to the non-availability of ration and as a result residents of Bhalesa tehsil had been facing hardship. He appealed to the state government to restore the supply of ration to the area immediately to avoid further starvation to people.

Niaz also demanded payment of compensation to the owners of land and structures, which had been acquired by the government for the construction of roads and other developmental activities in the Bhalessa area. He also urged the government to replace all damaged electrical transformers immediately so that power supply was restored to these areas.