Jammu, July 10
Many people, mainly children, have lost their lives while bathing or swimming in the Ranbir Canal.

Though the irrigation department claims that bathing or washing clothes in the canal is prohibited, the scorching heat forces people to take a dip in the canal.

A week ago, a teenager was drowned while he was taking a bath in the canal in the Muthi locality of Jammu city. Following the incident, the water supply in the canal had to be stopped for several hours. However, the victim’s body could not be traced. Instead, the body of a youth tied with ropes was found.

People in the Muthi area held a protest demonstration and also blocked the road for several hours, following which the department had to stop the water supply for several hours.

Despite instructions against the misuse of the canal water for purposes other than irrigation, people can be seen bathing or washing clothes at various places in the canal. Even cowherds can be seen washing the cattle in the canal.

“Many people have already lost their lives while bathing in the canal. We have clearly issued advisory against the misuse of the canal water, which is exclusively meant for irrigational purposes,” chief engineer Dileep Bakshi told The Tribune.

He said the department would soon put up signboards at various places asking people to keep away from the canal and not to use it for bathing or other purposes.

Meanwhile, to escape the blazing sun, people of all ages can be seen taking a bath in the canal in various localities. Children in large numbers throng various places across the canal and take a plunge into the ice-chilling water of the canal.

The water in the canal comes from the Chenab, which is a snow-fed river. Hence, the water remains cold and people seeking relief from the heat use to take a dip in the canal.

“We don’t have an air-conditioner at home. So whenever there is hot, I along with my friends come to the canal to take a bath in its cold water,” said Rahul Sharma, a class VI student.

He said, “We know that it is risky but we have become used to it”.

Speaking to The Tribune, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Taj Mohiuddin said, “We have been making efforts to provide adequate water to the farmers for irrigation and people should also understand that the canal network is for irrigational purpose only”.

Srinagar, July 10
Shazia (name changed), a resident of an interior area of Srinagar city, was often followed by Showkat Ahmad (name changed) whenever she used to leave her home.

“He always used to pass indecent remarks whenever I passed by and many times, he offered me a lift. This continued for a long time,” said Shazia, a teenager.

Tired of all this, she approached the local police station and got an FIR registered. Even for filing a simple complaint, she had to move from pillar to post.

“Showkat still hangs around. What has law done to him? In fact, I was harassed for filing such a complaint. This is the system we are living in,” she said.

Eve-teasing has shown an upward swing in Kashmir with the passage of time and the silence observed by society in general has made the matters worse.

Despite laws, many cases of eve-teasing go unreported. People don’t come forward to register their complaints owing to social stigma attached to it. Those who dare to register their complaints are termed as “rebels”.

“Kashmir being a conservative society, the entire blame is shifted on women even in the case of eve-teasing. Mental make-up of society is so rigid towards women that it is not ready to consider eve-teasing a problem faced by women,” said Shaheen Anjum, a social activist, adding that, “Had it not been so, the murderers of Romana, a student who was killed a few months ago, would have been punished.”

“Many complaints regarding eve-teasing are not registered by the police. You have to grease their palm to get the job done. Most of the times, the police facilitates compromise in the cases relating to eve-teasing. A few cases are referred to court and there too aggrieved party fails to get justice. This impresses upon the need to overhaul the system,” said Shabnam Ara, a law graduate.

Tahira Bano, a senior citizen, said the job of the police was to register complaints and it was for the courts to punish the violators. “The media instead of highlighting such issues, many a times buries the same for its materialistic gains as boys from influential families are mostly found involved in it. The government is sleeping over the issue and the aggrieved families don’t come out to speak against it. If the situation continues, it would be too late to repent,” said Bano.

“It is imperative that tuition centres are brought under surveillance since many complaints of eve-teasing have come from such centres and the nearby areas. The police and parents have an additional responsibility and they should play their role positively,” said Ali Mohammad, a senior citizen.

Meanwhile, a police officer on condition of anonymity said: "The cases of eve-teasing that used to go unnoticed in mohallahs are now over-exaggerated and sensationalised. Some agencies, including some mainstream parties, deliberately highlight such cases to gain political mileage and to create administrative problems”.

He said:“The cases of eve-teasing are not on the rise. Usually, the aggrieved families don’t come forward to register such complaints. Because of the conservative outlook, the families don’t want to publicise such issues. Those who register complaints in police stations are provided due assistance under law".

However, another police officer said students were more vulnerable to eve-teasing. “The stretch of the road from Ram Bagh to Hyderpora is highly vulnerable to such incidents as many coaching centres fall in the vicinity”.

He said there were a few people who approached police stations for registering such complaints. “But usually such matters end up in compromises. This is high time when stern action against violators needs to be taken. Besides, the aggrieved families need to come forward with complaints to root out the menace from society,” the officer added.

Doda, July 10
The newly upgraded Government High School, Betyas, is a perfect example of the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities in providing education to children in the remote and far-flung areas of Jammu. Over 200 students of the school are not only facing the problem of the shortage of teachers but also of poor facilities.

Located on the Puldoda-Bhalesa road, the school was upgraded in 2008 when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the Chief Minister of the state. Being a native of the Bhalesa area, Azad had initiated some steps to improve education in this most backward area of the state. “The authorities, however, failed to provide basic infrastructure in this institution,” remarks Haji Mohammad Sultan. He alleges that after the resignation of Azad in July 2008, the authorities deliberately ignored the school.

Pointing towards the condition of the school building, he says students are usually crammed into the classrooms due to the shortage of rooms. “For the past one year, we have been approaching the authorities for the construction of more rooms but nothing has been done so far,” he adds.

Ghulam Haider, a resident of Pulai village, says only three teachers, including two rehbar-e-talims (ReTs) have been running the institution. “Due to the non-availability of teachers, students have been suffering,” he says while pointing out at this year’s Class X result of the school.

The school caters to Betyas, Manoia, Jangnalia, Shoran, Pulai, Bambhoo, Hanso and Malikpura villages of Bhalesa. The previous government had upgraded a number of schools. However, the authorities failed to streamline the functioning of these institutions.

The Betyas high school is not an isolated case. Most of the government-run educational institutions in this belt are facing shortage of the teaching staff and poor infrastructure.

Most of the schools are run by ReTs as regular and permanent teachers prefer to teach in approachable schools.

Jammu, July 10
Once known for its rich water reservoirs, most of the ponds and wetland areas in and around Jammu city have dried up and are now nowhere in sight.

Such reservoirs, which were earlier catering to the needs of the general masses, besides helping in maintaining cool surroundings, have over the years either been levelled by government agencies or encroached upon by vested interests to raise concrete structures. And those ponds, which still exist have unfortunately been converted into dumping grounds with residents throwing all kinds of dirt and filth to further pollute the stagnant water.

Dina Nath, an octogenarian, putting up in the Chinore area, recalls those days when people would fetch water from a nearby pond and sit in leisure around its banks to beat the heat. “The then government had even deputed chowkidars to take care of such wetland areas and we would never feel shortage of water even during the summer. Now, water in our area is supplied after every four days and that too for a limited period,” he said.

Sansar Chand, a resident of Janipur, said there used to be at least 30 such well-maintained wetland areas in the city and its periphery. “Now only names like Rani Talab, Ban Talab, Tillo Talab and Babe Da Talab exist, but no ponds are found in these localities,” he said.

Sansar regretted that in the Ploura and the Janipur areas of the city, there once existed about 10 ponds with proper outlets. “Now, a few have been spared by professional encroachers,” he said.

Although the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), responsible for the maintenance of these wetland areas, has at some places erected signboards warning the trespassers, encroachments in and around these ponds still continue.

Kavinder Gupta, mayor, JMC, admitted that most of the ponds and wetland areas in and around the city had been encroached upon by some vested interests.

“It was a free for all situation during the past over two decades when no elections to the Municipal Corporation were held. We are now trying to identify all those wetland areas and take their possession back after initiating legal action against the encroachers,” informed Gupta.

He said a proposal had recently been submitted to the Centre, wherein 20 ponds and wetland areas would be renovated and given an elegant look under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Jammu, July 10
A slope near a small bridge in Om Nagar on the Udhaiwalla road has become a safe place for chickensellers and marriage halls for disposing of waste material.

Besides being a nuisance for the residents of the area, the slope has adversely affected the business of dhabas situated near the bridge.

One has to hold one’s breath near the bridge while walking as foul smell emanates from the peeled off skin of the dressed chickens wrapped in jute bags.

The residents and a few dhaba owners of the areas alleged that they were living in a hell-like situation. They said despite repeated requests to officers of the corporation, the problem was being neglected by the authorities.

Expressing disappointment over the negligence, Harsh Chand, a resident of the area, alleged that banquet halls in the area were using the place for dumping waste. He said: “Parties are organised in these marriage halls which generate wastage of plastic cups, plates, spoons and bottles of soft drinks, besides cooked food which is dumped here.”

In the absence of a demarcated dumping ground, the wastage from these halls also finds its place in the slope.

Pushpa Kumari, a housewife, said, “In the morning when I drop my kids to school, we all hold our breath while passing the bridge. The authorities should take immediate steps to lift the garbage on a regular basis.”

Highlighting his plight, Ashwani Kumar, a dhaba owner, said: “The chickensellers dump skin of the dressed chickens here during late hours. Several times, I have tried to stop them, but they rudely behave with me. Customers have stopped coming to my dhaba as they cannot eat food amidst mosquitoes and flies, besides the foul smell coming out of the slope,” he added.

The wastage dumped here can lead to an epidemic which can spread in the city with the drinking water pumped from the tubewell located across the bridge. The residents feel helpless as their requests to the people concerned not to dump the waste there have fallen on deaf ears.

While admitting to the problem being confronted by the people in the area, Ashok Singh Manhas, councillor of the area, assured that he would take up the issue with the commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation, Mubarak Singh.

He said he would serve a notice on the owners of marriage halls situated in the area and would also take action against the chickensellers.

Manhas further said he would penalise those caught while dumping waste near the slope.

Pahalgam, July 10
It happens only here.The 10-bedded allopathic dispensary catering to over 15,000 here becomes a sub-district hospital (SDH) during the two-month Amarnath yatra every year.

Hectic activity with the deployment of more medical and paramedical staff has already started with the beginning of the yatra. The bed capacity also gets increased from 10 to 20.It is less than 2 km ahead of the Nunwan base camp for the yatra, where pilgrims arriving from Jammu everyday are lodged before their pilgrimage starts. The camp has tented accommodation for 6,000.

“The dispensary is one among the 24 centres under the Mattan block of Anantnag district,” says block medical officer Gowhar Abbas. There is only one sub-district hospital at Seer under the block, while Pahalgam turns out to be the SDH temporarily for two months of the yatra. It is also among two allopathic dispensaries (Pahalgam and Ranbirpora), but gets elevated to the sub-district hospital during the summer. The allopathic dispensary of Pahalgam caters to more than 15,000 residing in seven villages. Mostly, there are cases of gastroenteritis, UTI, RTI and hypertension in the area, observes Dr Zahoor Ahmad.

“The health centre is equipped with USG, X-Ray, ECG, lab and dental facilities while a theatre with the requisite facilities starts functioning during the yatra with the deployment of an orthopedic surgeon and an anesthesiologist, while a general surgeon, physician, and gynaecologist are also made available. During the yatra period, there are many cases of fractures, mainly because of the fall from horses and slipping on the 32-km-long track between Chandanwari and the holy cave,” say doctors.

“Minor surgeries and close reduction of fractures are conducted on such cases,” adds Dr Mansoor,a surgeon. “Apart from the fracture cases, the hospital caters to heart patients, many of whom get referred to the hospitals outside. In case of the suspension of the yatra due to bad weather, there is a heavy rush of patients, whose number goes to anything between 400 and 500,” says Dr Ahmad, adding that over 100 patients get treatment daily, even as more than 150 patients are attended to by the afternoon every Wednesday.

Jammu, July 10
The pass percentage of private candidates of Class X in the Jammu province has not exceeded 30 per cent for the past two years. It was 25.85 per cent in 2007, 26.48 per cent in 2008 and 23. 17 per cent this year.

Of the 39,656 students who appeared in the annual examination (private) this year, only 9,187 were able to qualify. Avtar Krishan, whose son failed to qualify, said: “In cities, besides schools, students avail the facility of tuition that helps them comprehend subjects easily, but such facilities are not enjoyed by poor students residing in the rural and far-flung areas.”

Explaining the reason for the poor results, secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Bashir Ahmad said: “Usually, students who are weak in studies and are first-generation learners, go for private examination.” He said it was difficult for those to qualify the exams, whose parents were illiterate.

Expressing disappointment over the results, Ashok Kumar Abrol, joint secretary of the board, said the education of students suffered due to lack of infrastructure and shortage of teachers.

He said: “It is the duty of chief education officers and the director, School Education, to ascertain the problems being faced by the students in the far-flung and rural areas, but they are not doing so.”

He said though the Education Department was offering special coaching for weak students residing in the rural and far-flung areas through the District Institution of Education and Training (DIET) and the State Institution of Education and Training (SIET), they had not received any feedback till date.

However, principal, DIET, Virander Sharma said: “We are not running any such scheme. We have planned to initiate such scheme this year and have received an order from higher officers to adopt schools which have shown poor results.”

Principal, SIET, Kuldeep Sharma also expressed ignorance about the scheme.

Jammu, July 10
New buildings, comprising multi-storeyed flats, shopping and office complexes, will dot the map of Jammu city in a few months as the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) is on the verge of completing the ambitious projects.

Pandu Ram K Paul, Vice-Chairman of JDA apprised about the projects which are either almost complete or are about to be started soon.

One of the projects which is almost complete is a mini-residential housing colony, named Panchvati flats, which has been built on 19.2 kanal in Nanak Nagar. This project was formulated by the planning wing of the JDA in which it was proposed to construct five blocks consisting of 80 flats.

For providing facilities to inhabitants of these flats, car parking, parks, footpaths/internal roads, open drains and surface drains have been built. These flats will be connected with Trikuta Nagar housing colony by constructing a culvert on an adjoining nullah. The process of handing over the possession to the allottees will be initiated soon.

Another project, Khanpur-Nagrota bus stand on over 50 kanals near the Srinagar National Highway is ready. The bus stand has food outlets, a bus workshop, water-coolers, dormitories, toilets and high mast lights.

To meet the demands of a hostel for Ladakhi girls, a two-storeyed building with 33 rooms has been built in Muthi. The Ladakh Hill Council, which had put up the demand, has funded this project while the JDA provided land and helped with engineering wing for the construction work. To augment the greenery in an otherwise concrete town, two public parks spreading over 70 kanals near the RBI office are also ready. Walkways, seating benches, hut shed and swings for children have been provided at the parks.

A building for the architect wing, a sister organisation of the JDA, has been built near the Rail Head Complex in the Narwal region under the housing development project. This three-storeyed building is also ready.

Srinagar, July 10
Hundreds of volunteers from across the country were provided tips during the eight-day “Peace and Harmony Youth Camp” here to implement the ban on polythene in their respective areas.

Salman Sagar, mayor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), while welcoming the volunteers, said the SMC would strive to remove the last bag of polythene from Srinagar to restore its pristine glory. While addressing volunteers during an introductory function, Sagar said it was the moral obligation of inhabitants of the valley to protect its serene environs from toxic hazards of non-biodegradable wastes like polythene.

The function was organised by the National Youth Project in collaboration with the youth services and sports department of the SMC, the Youth Hostel Association and Gandhian workers.

About 600 volunteers from Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal participated.

The function was also attended by Dr SN Subbharao, an eminent Gandhian, SP Verma, director, youth services and sports, and Radha Bhat, chairperson of the Gandhi Peace Foundation.

Dr Subbharao called for the preservation of water bodies. He stressed on maintaining the ecological balance by ensuring the safety of wildlife and natural beauty of Kashmir.

Interestingly, both the government and NGOs played their part in the anti-polythene drive here. The police and the CRPF, too, chipped in under the civic action programme for cleaning the Dal Lake of polythene. It was after the active involvement of NGOs like Green Dream, Nigeen Lake Conservation Organisation (NLCO) and various sections of society that the government imposed a ban on polythene.

While Green Dream has already started a campaign for rooting out polythene from Kashmir, NLCO has been carrying out a sustained drive for the preservation of the Nigeen and Dal Lake.

Estimates say that about 75 lakh polythene carry bags were being used in Srinagar. The ban on polythene has not only created a market for the local cottage industry, but also encouraged young entrepreneurs to start small ventures manufacturing cloth and paper carry bags.