Jammu, May 26
Gandhi Plaza or old vegetable market presents a deserted look and demands immediate attention of the authorities. The market complex is situated in one of the posh localities of the city i.e. Gandhi Nagar.

The complex was constructed in 1986 with the purpose of providing the residents of this locality with a market that meets all their daily needs. But the market has failed to serve its purpose.

There are 36 shops in this complex among which few shops are selling eatables like meat, sweets and fruits while the rest of the shops are either closed down or are occupied by scrap dealers.

The market has turned out to be an eyesore for Gandhi Nagar. The business of scrap and rags conducted inside the complex has changed its entire look. The market, which was designed in a circular shape with a large compound inside, is poorly maintained.

A few shops in a hut-type round-shaped building inside the complex have been abandoned as the sunken plinth of these shops is not repaired for a long time.

The complex is not maintained properly by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) and looks like an abandoned property. The walls show as if they have not been painted since long.

The choked drainage of the complex has become a breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes, threatening to spread diseases like malaria and dengue. Eatables like meat, sweets and vegetables sold by the shopkeepers remain exposed to flies and mosquitoes.

Most of the shopkeepers have either sublet their shops or have switched over to the trade for which this market was never meant.

One of the shopkeepers said, “The JDA is responsible for the maintenance of the place, but it has not even spent a single penny for the upkeep of the market”.

He said, “There are a few shops here and we spend our own money for keeping the market clean to some extent”. Though the authorities take monthly rent from us, they seem in no mood to take care of the market, he rued.

Jammu, May 26
Though the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Act, 1978, provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants, its provisions are being openly violated in Jammu.

A shopkeeper in the Gandhi Nagar locality has been openly selling wild and endangered birds.

Various species of animals and birds have been categorised under schedule I of the Act. The shopkeeper, who has taken a licence to sell fishes and aquariums, is engaged in selling various species of wild birds, including pheasants, parrots, lovebirds and mynahs.

The shopkeeper openly claims that this was the only place where one could buy a variety of wild birds.

Locals informed that the shop had been operating in the area for the past many years and the law enforcing agencies seemed to be hand in glove with the shopkeeper as nobody has ever bothered to stop the illegal trade.

“This shop has been running here for past many years, but no action has been taken against the shopkeeper,” said a neighbouring shopkeeper.

He said, “We asked the police a number of times to help us stop this illegal trade, but it is going on due to the reluctance on the part of the authorities in taking action against this shopkeeper”.

The state wildlife department is also aware of the illegal activities, but in the absence of cooperation from the police department, wildlife officials have failed to check the illegal trade.

“We had formed a team to check illegal poaching and sale and purchase of wild animals and birds in the state, but for this we need cooperation from the police and other law enforcing agencies,” said an officer of the wildlife department.

He said, “Whenever we raid any such shop, we confiscate birds and animals found there. However, in this particular case, we had raided the place a number of times, but without the cooperation of the law enforcing agencies we are helpless.”

Meanwhile, senior police officers expressed their ignorance about the matter and said they would look into it and take necessary action against the culprit.

Jammu, May 26
Hard work is the key to success, the old saying seems to be proved true by the toppers of Class X of the State Board of School Education (BOSE), who have tasted success only by burning midnight oil throughout the year.

The circumstances might be different for each of them, but their aim and medium were similar and that was to get a position in the merit list.

Akshay Mahajan, a student of Kristu Jyoti Convent School, Samba, who topped in Class X in Jammu by obtaining 98.20 per cent marks, is jubilant over his success, which he has got after a lot of hard work.

Talking to The Tribune, Akshay attributed his success to his school and tuition teachers. He said for attaining the top position, he had to do a lot of hard work throughout the year.

He expressed his gratitude towards his parents and his elder sister for their support. His Principal, Sister Sajeeva said he was a hard worker, co-operative and the best student with friendly nature.

Akshay said, “I want to be an IAS officer. It is my childhood dream that I should join the administrative services”. He added that he would opt for non-medical subjects for further studies.

Expressing similar views, Ruchi Gupta, a student of Adarsh Bal Jyoti Pubic High School, Gandhi Nagar, who achieved the second position after securing 97.80 per cent marks, said it was only the hard work which had helped her to reach at the position.

She said her parents were her teachers and they always guided her to do a lot of hard wok for attaining success.

Gupta said, “I did a lot of hard work while preparing for the examinations. My dream is to become a doctor”. “I will opt for medical or non-medical subjects for further studies”, added Ruchi.

Meanwhile, Shivang Gupta, a student of Model Academy, BC Road, who got the third position in Jammu by securing 97.20 per cent marks, said, "It was all due to my hard work and the support of teachers and parents that I have been able to achieve this success. Now I am aiming to be an engineer.”

“He brought laurels for our school. He worked hard to achieve this goal and is among the best students of our school. Along with studies, he is good in sports. He was brilliant from the beginning and is a national champion in skating,” said Adit Gupta, principal, Model Academy.

Mandi-(Poonch), May 26
Notwithstanding the claims of the state government to provide quality education at the doorstep, a government school here has just three teachers for eight classes.

The school is Government Middle School, Maharkote.

Sources in the education department told The Tribune that there was a requirement of 8-9 teachers for its 165 students in eight classes from Ist to eighth. They further said that even though the government had deputed a fourth teacher, he had been deployed as booth level officer (BLO) and remained busy with the assignment.

Parents of the students rued that the education authorities were jeopardising the career of more than 150 students by not providing adequate staff. They added that on many occasions, they took up the matter with the department, but to no avail.

“See, there are just three teachers for eight classes. Since the number of teachers is too less, sometimes each teacher has to take two to three classes simultaneously. This is a mockery of the education system of the state”, said Jamal Din, father of a student, Muhammad Rafi. “The government should wake from slumber and provide adequate staff for the school so that poor students don’t suffer further”.

A student said: “Since our teachers mostly have to take two to three classes at the same time, it becomes hard to study in such a scenario. We wish to study and even teachers want to teach us in a good way, but our school is facing an acute shortage of teachers to teach us.We hope that through the media our problem reaches the top education authorities for proper action and solution”.

Efforts to contact senior education department officials at Poonch failed, but a junior officer while confirming the shortage of teachers in the school said the problem would be solved soon.

Srinagar, May 26
Many owners of houseboats in the Dal Lake in Srinagar have been protesting against the likely closure of hundreds of these pleasure abodes, which have been an eternal advertisement for Kashmir’s tourism.

The danger of closure looms over them after an order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in February this year, which directed the government to ban houseboats, commercial units and all such establishments responsible for alarming pollution in the lake. An official of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authorities says such houseboats number over 1,200 and they will have to wind up their operations to save the lake.

Though a few are willing to bet on the closure of houseboats and hundreds of other such establishments due to political leadership’s well-known apathy for a firm action due to electoral expediency, houseboat owners fear that the time may be running out for them.Moreover, many of them seem to genuinely believe that they have been made the villain for the slow death of the lake even as they are least responsible for it.

“Dal is our mother. She has nursed and fed us for many decades and several generations. Houseboats started in 1860 and never affected the beauty of the lake. The government has made it look like we arrived a few years ago and began destroying the lake,” Azim Tuman, president of the Houseboat Owners Association, said. An informed man, Tuman, spreads a number of photographs, many dating back to decades, of the lake to show the mushrooming of hotels and residential areas, which he said led to massive pollution in the lake, even as the houseboats remained there.

“We respect the order of the court. But it is a biased report of the Pollution Control Board, which is responsible for the order. We will fight against it,” he said. Many say the association is actively lobbying with the government for relief.

Any quick implementation of the order seems unlikely as both sides prepare to fight the battle and many believe that the government will fail the lake, whose current area of over 11.50 sq km is a fraction of its original self. Moreover, the sprouting weeds in its water, which has turned sticky due to effluents of all kinds, are an eyesore. The citizens sound wary over the fate of the lake despite the judicial pronouncement.

Jammu, May 26
Though there has been no incident of any major flood in the Tawi in the past few years, the government seems to be in no mood to take any chance with the life and property of the people of Jammu.

In Jammu region, various flood control measures have been adopted by the irrigation and flood control department to check the sudden increase in the water level in the Tawi, which is considered as the lifeline of the region.

In the past, rains had caused mayhem when in September 2006, 19 persons lost their lives and 22 others were injured due to sudden floods.

More than 6,000 families were affected due to flashfloods and heavy rains in the region as more than 1,212 houses were either partially or completely destroyed.

In Jammu division, various low-lying areas, including Khandwal, Raipur Satwari, some places in Akhnoor and various villages of Kathua district are vulnerable to flashfloods.

The main culprit is the Ujj river, which passes through various villages of Kathua district. Though the Ujj is a seasonal river, the residents of the area are prone to frequent flashfloods.

Former Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz during his visit to the area had assured that a barrage would be constructed on the river so as to avoid the loss of human life and property, but the residents here rue that the work on the project is going on at a snail’s pace.

“The speed of work on the proposed barrage is very slow, although the irrigation and flood control department has reinforced the embankments of the river to avoid maximum damage,” says Ghan Sham, a local resident.

“This river has consumed so many lives, destroyed property worth lakhs and damaged thousands of acres of cultivable land that it has become a river of sorrow for us,” Sham adds.

The Akhnoor sector of the Jammu division is also prone to flashfloods where people living in various areas face the wrath of the Chenab.

“During rains, our area remains cut off from the rest of the world as the entire peripheral gets submerged and we remain at the mercy of the God,” says Inderjeet Singh, a resident of Pragwal village of Akhnoor district.

Various areas near the Tawi, including Niki Tawi and Belicharana, are also vulnerable to flashfloods.

An officer of the irrigation and flood control department says, “We have taken various measures to check flashfloods in the Tawi, Ujj and the Chenab. We have reinforced the embankments of these rivers”.

He adds, “We have identified certain points on all three rivers where extra preparedness is needed. We have done our best to save the life and property of the people, but since flood is a natural phenomenon we are unable to control it completely”.

Jammu, May 26
“Mere pati ne jeevan mein khona hi khona seekha hai, paana nahin,” so begins noted writer Raksha Sharma while describing her husband ,Yash Sharma, an acclaimed Dogri poet.

But when she describes him as a poet, she says, “Always immersed in the eternal beauty of nature, he, who conjures all shades of life in his sweet melodies, is Yash Sharma…my husband!”

This is how she writes about her Sahitya Academy Award-winner husband in perhaps one of the first tribute by a woman to her writer husband in “Sehyatra”, a biographical account of their marital and literary lives.

The septuagenarian writer believes: “Undoubtedly, the poet lives in one world but inside him is a vast universe.” On a personal note, “Sehyatra” reckons their losses without regret and gains without delight. The book summarises their journey of life amidst hide and seek of the sun and shade along the river of gushing emotions.

“Being the poet’s wife, it is my moral obligation to take care of his social as well as literary life,” she muses and adds, “Sehyatra is also a chronological account of modern history of the Renaissance of the Dogri literature.”

Raksha believes that being an employee of Radio Kashmir, Jammu, was the significant phase of Yash’s life. “As the radio station was a cultural hub during those days, he developed strong bonds with writers like Rahi Masoom Raza, Ali Sardar Jafri, Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Dr Bashir Badar,” she recounts.

She has also mentioned about great Dogri poets, Ved Pal Deep and Keri Singh Madhukar. “Out of the lifelong interplay of darkness and light, this trio got nothing but lies and treachery,” she laments.

Yash is quick to add: “I am still alive and writing tirelessly just because of her motivation. Otherwise, fate of the two (Deep and Madhukar) is known to all.”

The book also mentions the stiff opposition that Yash faced on account of his bold political views in his poetry. The book also raises questions on the way felicitations are conferred upon writers at the state and national levels.

These days, Raksha has been writing another book. “The book will be a tribute to the widows of all artists and writers of the Jammu region. My book will highlight the plight of such women who have been suffering in seclusion due to the absence of economic resources,” she adds.

Srinagar, May 26
With its centuries-old history of bridges over the Jhleum cutting across the Srinagar city, yet another addition has been made with the construction of a footbridge connecting the central Lal Chowk with Lal Mandi. This 141 metres long cable-stayed pedestrian bridge on the Lal Mandi-Sheikh Bagh axis was opened for public by then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on July 13, 2004, after several years of delay in its construction due to varied reasons.

The footbridge was thrown open to public on the day when the only flyover in the Kashmir valley located at the Jehangir Chowk or Exhibition Crossing near the Civil Secretariat was thrown open. Both projects linked to the banks of the river marked the developing scenario in the heart of this capital city, which has been all along a landmark of trade and business activities in Srinagar. The idea behind these two projects mainly was to lessen the burden of heavy traffic in the area, both around the Civil Secretariat that is close to the flyover and the Lal Chowk that leads to the footbridge through the Forest Lane. The 370 metres long flyover shoots off from the left bank of the river at Budshah Bridge, connecting the city centre with the seat of governance.

The footbridge falls between Abdullah Bridge, parallel to the old Zero Bridge and the Amirakadal Bridge (known as Kadal in the local parlance). Though both the old bridges, Zero and Amirakadal, are at a walking distance on either side from this footbridge, it is being used by a large number of pedestrians thereby bringing down the heavy traffic in the heart of the city centre.

“We take pride in bridging the gap,” reads one of the inscriptions on the pedestrian bridge. “This bridge saves your time and energy, use it,” reads another. For the past five years in the fulfilment of a long pending demand in view of the immense public utility, pedestrians have been moving on this bridge to and from the Lal Chowk. This bridge has replaced the age-old use of Shikaras that used to ferry the people from one side to the other. The Shikaras had also been in much demand at peak hours when the office of the State Board of Secondary Education (SBSE) was located at Lal Mandi. Even as the shifting of the SBSE has eased the rush of students, the bridge has been coming to the rescue of thousands of students of different schools and colleges in the Lal Chowk area daily from the other side, including Jawahar Nagar and Rajbagh.

Many school buses drop and pickup students from the other side without touching the city centre. The development of parking slots by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, maintaining the riverbanks, has also eased the traffic hazards for hundreds of people from the other side of the river visiting the Lal Chowk. The pedestrian bridge with the development of riverbanks has added to the aesthetic essence of the walk over the bridge that gives a fascinating look in the glittering lights in the evening. The rows of colourfully designed houseboats with national and international signboards and brands by the side of mighty chinar trees equally add to the natural serenity, close to the city centre congested with concrete structures and vehicular traffic.

Jammu, May 26
The Ferozpur division, under which Jammu railways falls, has been adjudged the best and safest Northern Railway for running a campaign in schools and villages through panchayats to avoid accidents at unmanned level crossings due to which the rate of accidents have dropped drastically.

The entire Ferozpur railway division has some 1,000 unmanned level crossings whereas the belt covering Jammu, which runs from Madhavpur to Jammu till Udhampur, has only five unmanned crossings out of the total 25.

Ashok Sharma, divisional traffic manager, Jammu, informs this belt has not seen any such accident in the past many years.

He also says unmanned crossing are generally created in villages, keeping the low volume of traffic in consideration, which makes it necessary to educate the villagers about safety measures at the level crossings.

Dharmender Kumar, senior DCM, Railways, says, “It is necessary to spread awareness among people, especially schoolchildren and school staff to eliminate the probability of such incidents. For the past one year, we have launched an aggressive campaign in schools, where our team members visit the schools, meet the principals, staff, students and school van drivers and give demonstration and lecture on safety and precautionary measures at such crossings”.

He says his team has been going to the villages to spread awareness about the same with the help of panchayats. This division is also taking the help of the media to disseminate the information.

Kumar says, “We have made documentaries and films on this issue which are shown at public places. Not only this, we also run a strip in print media to this effect.

Thirdly, we have installed whistle boards at some 100 m away from such crossings, where the drivers of the train give signals of whistle to give advance warning to people to stay away from the track”.

The division has also started counseling programmes under this campaign project to educate and instruct its staff to play a pivotal role especially during night time at such level crossings.

But despite all these precautions and campaign, Kumar admits a few stray accidents happen due to the negligence of road users.