Doda, July 7
Even as road accidents have become a routine affair on the Batote-Kishtwar National Highway, the authorities seem to be non-serious in saving innocent lives as they have failed to construct parapets along the highway.

It is widely observed that the construction of parapets and crash barriers help in minimising road accidents, but the authorities have been adopting delaying tactics in starting the work which is of urgent nature.

The condition of the road speaks volume about the casual approach of the authorities. The stretch between Trungal and Prem Nagar is full of potholes due to recurring landslides and shooting stones.

While deaths on roads have been going unabated, the departments concerned are busy in passing the buck.

After Bhadewah and Kishtwar mishaps, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand had given strict warnings to the authorities to check such tragedies, but it seems that all warnings have fallen on deaf ears. “Either our politicians are not serious in protecting our lives or bureaucrats are more powerful than ministers,” says Shahid Parveez, a resident of Assar, while pointing towards the condition of the road.

Echoing similar views, Mushtaq, a resident of Chaka, rues that the only concern of officials engaged in repair and maintenance of roads is to pocket as much money as they can. No one is concerned about the lives of people”.

After the Prem Nagar incident, instructions were issued for the immediate construction of parapets and crash barriers, but the instructions remained only on papers. Except some spots, the track from Trungal to Kishtwar is without parapets and barriers”.

“The traffic police had identified some spots and urged the authorities to construct parapets to prevent plunging of vehicles into the Chenab, but the process is still in the pipeline due to administrative callousness,” he adds.

Jammu, July 7
In a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir, where militants often misuse SIM cards, about 40 subscribers of four communication agencies operating here lose or misplace their handsets, along with SIM cards, everyday.

Such subscribers, who register the missing reports with their respective police stations for obtaining the duplicate SIM cards after requesting to block the old ones, however, never get back their handsets that carry personal data and contact numbers.

A police official, while quoting the figures obtained from different police stations, said most of the subscribers, losing their handsets, belonged to the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) or Airtel, who were the first to provide the services in the state a few years ago.

Rakesh Verma, a munshi, posted at police post, Chinore, said he received at least 15 missing reports everyday, wherein people complained of having misplaced their cellphones or somebody having snatched it. Amongst the losers were mostly teenagers and women, he said.

Verma said other police stations and chowkis registered similar complaints for which a specific form was to be filled up. “We just provide the copy of the missing report so that people could apply for duplicate SIM cards,” he said.

Gurmeet Singh, working with the BSNL customer care centre, Bahu Plaza, said he issued about 25 duplicate SIM cards to the customers everyday after going through the missing reports and ascertaining the identity of the subscribers.

The data obtained from other cellular phone agencies, including Airtel and Aircel, reveal that their customer care centres, too, issue at least 15 such duplicate SIM cards everyday to the subscribers who lose their handsets.

Singh candidly admitted that people, who misplace their handsets, normally do not get them back. “It is a cumbersome process to find out who had lifted the handset. We just block the old SIM card and issue the duplicate one to the subscribers. More so, only the police has the know-how to track the missing handsets,” he said.

A middle-aged lady, who lost her Nokia 7210C handset last month, said she had been trying hard to get it back.

“Even I provided the required IMEI number (359310023444847) of the handset to the police and the BSNL authorities, I am yet to get any information. I was told that the police had other priorities and those who lose their cellphones should console themselves that they will never get them back,” she added.

Jammu, July 7
The state power development department (PDP) will soon start the installation of tamper-proof electronic meters in the left-out areas throughout the state, besides replacing the meters which were damaged during last year’s Amarnath land row
agitation.

The Tribune had recently reported that the department had failed to install the meters in all areas, besides replacing those in the areas where a frenzied mob damaged the tamper-proof electronic meters during the agitation in Jammu against the revocation of the forest land transfer orders.

As per official sources, more than 12 lakh tamper-proof electronic meters would be installed in both regions of the state by the end of 2010. Though the process had started four years ago, due to the shortage of funds, the programme had to be stalled.

“Out of 12 lakh meters, only five lakh meters have so far been installed. The
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process was halted due to the shortage of funds, but now the process would start again,” said an officer of the department.

The department is said to have received the go-ahead under the second phase of the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (APDRP) that has recently been implemented in the state.

Though the department has got the nod to install the meters, it is waiting for funds to be released for which the necessary steps are being taken.

As per sources, the department has nearly 70,000 tamper-proof electronic meters, but it lacks funds to purchase special wires and other important accessories required for the installation of the meters. The delay in the release of the funds is creating hurdles in the process which was started in 2005 to bring down the accummulated transmission and commercial losses to the national average of 20 per cent from the whopping 60 per cent in the state.

The union government had put the condition for the release of the funds for the purpose of infrastructure development, particularly in the power sector.

Meanwhile, consumers have expressed happiness that the process would start again. The department has promised round-the-clock power supply to the areas where the process would get completed.

Jammu, July 7
Omens, good or bad, do matter. While stepping out of home for a journey, a newly wedded woman coming across is considered auspicious. Contrary to it, if a widow crosses the way or someone sneezes, people stop going ahead.

Even in this age of science and technology, it’s there in the Indian culture. Whether the person is literate or illiterate, the city people exhibit a palpable obsession for omens.

A black string beaded with seven green chillies, a fresh lemon and a carbon black piece of wooden coal hangs at the entrance of most homes and shops as an omen of good luck. It presumably protects people from all invisible evil forces that could cast a shadow on their material prosperity.

Transporters, too, believe that a black silken thread strung with seven chillies, a lemon and a piece of coal enhances the longevity of engines of their vehicles, besides protecting them from accidents.

Pramod Kumar, a resident of Kanpur, sensed the popular mindset of people here and changed the nature of his job around 10 years ago and took to selling such strings. Earlier, he was a vendor and used to ferry a platter of “gulab jamuns” weighing around 15 kg, calling customers.

“There was no profit in that business. It was a painstaking job as it involved a lot of efforts. Right from arranging the raw material up to making the sweet and the sale, the entire process was tedious,” Pramod said.

But after Pramod caught up with the new idea, it changed his life for better. “Since I embarked upon the new venture, the number of my customers has swelled,” he said.

“Once a person starts using my product, he gets accustomed. All I have to do is to replace the old string with a new after every week and collect money from door to door,” he revealed, adding, “As the price of lemons have been soaring like other vegetables, I will hike the price of my product by Rs 1 and start charging Rs 6 against each string”.

“I earn a profit of Rs 200 on a daily basis and spend the same on my family. There is no relevance in saving,” he said. “Now, I don’t want to further expand the area of my business beyond Jammu and Kathua. I am concentrating on the education of my two-year-old son”.

“I don’t know any black magic…. people have faith in the string as it keeps them self-assured of security,” he stated.

Senior citizens maintain that the practice is as old as other customs. “It is done to ward off the impact of bad sight thrown on homes, shops or vehicles,” they said and added, “Besides, you will easily spot newly constructed homes sporting a worn-out shoe or horseshoe or some scary mask for the same reasons”.

“On occasions like marriage, a string of mango leaves are tied atop the two ends of the main door or leaves of banana are fixed on the pillars of entrance gate as an auspicious sign,” they added.

Gali Maidan-LoC (Poonch), July 7
Farmers in this area which is close to the LoC are a worried lot as the Army due to “security concerns”, has imposed an “undeclared ban” on their taking their cattle to dhoks (grazing fields in higher reaches of mountains) on the other side of the fence.

The ban has forced them to sell off their cattle at much lower prices due to the fear of these dying of starvation.

Locals of the area comprising Urripora, Gagrian, Dachiyaan, Chapprian, Kunda Barmiyaan villages, predominantly farmers, who also work as potters with the Army, complained that since the Army had imposed the ban in Makhiari Doba, Pathera and Jibla, they were left with no other option but to sell off the same to prevent losses as the livestock might die of starvation.

They added that even as they urged the local MLA and the district administration to take up the matter with the higher authorities, the administration seemingly did nothing to mitigate their sufferings.

The locals rued that they always proved their nationalism by supporting the Army in defending the border, but the force by imposing such curbs on their movement as well as that of the important mode of livelihood (cattle) had put a question mark on their survival. They added that even during three wars and about two decades of insurgency in the state, no one imposed a ban on their entry.

“We are not anti-nationals and have been supporting the Army in defending the borders. During the three wars as also during about 20 years of insurgency, the Army didn’t impose such a ban, but now when the things are racing back to normalcy in the state, it has taken this unrealistic step. 

Since the Army has imposed the ban, we are forced to sell off our cattle at cheaper prices to prevent huge losses which we would suffer as the cattle may die of starvation at home,” said Ahad Lone of the Gagrian area, who, out of his total livestock comprising four buffaloes, six cows and a horse, had to sell a buffalo and three cows for Rs 10,000 and Rs 7,000 against his purchase of Rs 22,000 and Rs 15,000 each, respectively, to prevent losses he would have suffered due to their death.

“Since we are poor people, we don’t think that we can sustain ourselves for long in the absence of our sole mode of livelihood since the other mode of our survival (farming) is not profitable in this part of the state. We took up the matter with the local MLA as well as with the district administration, but they virtually did nothing,” he added.

Habibullah, another farmer, who, along with his son, Ali Muhammad, works as a potter with the Army, said they carried eatables and other commodities for the Army, but the latter by imposing the ban was posing problems for them.

Local MLA Ajaz Jan said the problem was genuine. A senior Army officer said since the dhoks of these farmers were on the other side of the fence, they could not allow the people without ascertaining their identity due to security concerns.

“We cannot allow the people to the dhoks without ascertaining their identity. Since our men are not locals, we have asked the district administration to issue identity cards as also adequate policemen to ascertain the identity of the farmers before allowing them on the other side of the fence. We are awaiting their reply,” he added.

Col Biplab Nath, Jammu-based defence spokesperson, said: “The issue has been raked up in the past also. Write whatever you want”.

Jammu, July 7
Necessity is the mother of invention, the saying seems to be justified in the Jammu region as after the government banned the use of polythene bags, various innovative methods are being adopted so as to save the consumer from inconvenience. One such method includes eco-friendly carry bags made up of styrofoam, which have been introduced by shopkeepers, especially sweetmeat shops.

“After the ban on polythene, the customers were facing problems as they had to carry items in paper bags that caused much inconvenience. So we came up with the idea of using styrofoam bags,” said a sweetmeat shop owner.

Though the carry bags made out of styrofoam are a bit costlier as compared to polythene bags, the former are reusable, besides being environmental friendly. “This concept is good. The bags made of styrofoam look decent and their tensile strength is more as compared to polythene or paper bags,” said Rohit Sharma, a local resident.

Earlier, after the ban on polythene, both shopkeepers and consumers had been facing problems mainly due to the non-availability of any substitute for polythene carry bags. But the introduction of the styrofoam bags has solved the problem to some extent.

Srinagar, July 7
“The Kashmir valley has a great potential for adventure tourism and it is on the path of revival”, said Rauf Tramboo, secretary-general, Jammu and Kashmir Ski and Mountaineering Association, and president, Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, while advocating the need for developing the unexplored areas of the valley.

Cherishing the nostalgic moments spent on mountains, Rauf in an exclusive interview with The Tribune here said, “Dangers never deter me from scaling heights”.

The Ski and Mountaineering Association wants to explore easily available areas to attract adventure tourists. The Lidder and Sindh valley, Gurez, Srinagar-Mahadev area, Wadwan valley (in Kishtwar), Bungus valley (a pasture area), Doodh Pathri and Yousmarg are a few to name.

Referring to Gurez, a bowl-shaped valley close to the Line of Control, he said, “It is a paradise within paradise and the best place in the world for angling. The Kishan Ganga river is good for mild-rafting. Mountain biking, a craze in Europe, can be started from Srinagar and via Manasbal and Wular Lake can ultimately lead to Gurez and then Drass,further ahead to Ladakh via Mashko valley or return”.

The adventurer said Kashmir was a paradise for anglers and had a great potential for rafting. About the Wadwan valley, he said it could connect Kashmir with Kishtwar.

“Adventure tourism has been here since generations; be it skiing, trekking or rafting. Ladakh was opened to Europe and other western countries in 1970s. Travellers used to access Ladakh via Kashmir. This gave them an opportunity to enjoy the vastness of nature,” said Rauf.

He said the number of adventure tourists was high before militancy. “In 1988, more than 88,000 foreign tourists visited Kashmir and Ladakh. After political instability (in 1989), it trickled down to zero,” he said.

Travel adversaries by the UK and the US to its citizens not to visit Kashmir, according to Rauf, had added to the miseries.

“After 2003, while domestic traffic went up, the percentage of adventure tourists remained less. As a tour operator, we are charting out new itinerary. Besides, we have to identify places like West Asia which have no such adversaries for its citizens,” he added.

To celebrate the 25th year of the Jammu and Kashmir Ski and Mountaineering Association, world-renowned mountaineers like Peter Hillary (son of Edmund Hillary), Greg Mortimor, Tim Mcartney and Gary Wear have been invited to the valley. A mountaineers’ meet is scheduled in September-October.

The association is soon going to start a ski mountaineering expedition to Machoi Glacier in Drass, the second coldest region in the world. The expedition is aimed at bringing Drass on the world tourism map, especially vis-à-vis ski and adventure tourism. Its basic objective is to look after glaciers that are receding at an alarming rate.

“We intend to turn the Siachen glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, into a ski field. There are many snow-bound areas in Jammu and Kashmir which could be turned into ski fields,” he said. 

The legalisation of gay sex among consenting adults by the Delhi High Court has created a debate in the country. The state government, which enjoys a special status under Article 370 and has the Ranbir Panal Code (RPC), would not adopt the court’s judgment. The residents of Jammu seem happy with the state government’s decision.SUNAINA KAUL talked to a cross section of society, Here is what they had to say: