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A death every second day in Jammu road mishaps
Travel unsafe in minibuses
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Traffic diversions planned
Passenger sheds in Jammu not being used
Pollution check centres not effective
Healthcare eludes residents of remote areas
Mandi govt school without principal
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A death every second day in Jammu road mishaps
Jammu, July 21 The figures might be disturbing to many but the facts cannot be ignored. What two-decade long militancy in the state could not do is being done by road accidents in Jammu district having a population of 18 lakh . Even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had embarked upon a “mission” to streamline chaotic traffic scenario in the twin capital cities, over 100 road accidents take place every month in Jammu district in which 6,000 people return home with broken bones and limbs. “On an average, 180 people die in road mishaps every year in Jammu district where 1,200 accidents happen in a calendar year,” Parminder Singh, SSP, traffic police, said. The SSP attributes these mishaps to constantly rising number of vehicles, violation of traffic rules, miniscule parking lots, narrow and congested roads and an understaffed traffic police department. The district today has 4.30 lakh vehicles registered with Regional Transport Office, Jammu, out of which 2.30 lakh were motorcycles and scooters alone, said Singh trying to convey that public transport system had been marginalised over the past few years resulting into traffic congestion in a small city like Jammu. About death traps and killer roads, he said, the road prone to mishaps was the Nandni-Nagrota stretch because of blind curves and uneven road surface. Similarly, truckers avoid the Nagrota-Ban Talab bypass because of steep slant, which they say disturbs the balance of their loaded vehicles and hence to avoid mishaps they don’t ply their trucks on this particular road, said Singh. Likewise, the Akhnoor Road, which has a mix of traffic like Army convoys, buses, trucks, light motor vehicles and even horse-driven carts witnesses fatal accidents, he said. He also felt that the road stretch between RS Pura and Miran Sahib, too, had been a risky stretch because of rash driving by two-wheelers. Though the arterial expressway near MLA Hostel, Maheshpura Chowk, Brigadier Rajinder Singh Chowk behind Vigilance Organisation’s office, steep stretch from Ranbireshwar Temple to MLA Hostel, Sidhra-Kunjwani bypass had dangerous curves and slopes hampering visibility to drivers, fatal road mishaps in the capital city have witnessed a steep decline, he said. Constantly rising congestion has slowed down traffic movement over the years resulting into less mishaps in the city compared to what had been the trend in 2002, he said. However, the city had a grim picture when it comes to parking lots. As against 75,000 cars in the city, capacity of available parking lots was 3,000. The SSP felt that over the years, public transport system in Jammu had been marginalised as people preferred private mode of transport instead of the former. This trend has added to traffic problems in the city and we feel that once again public transport system needs to be strengthened, he added. On enforcing crash helmets, he said the traffic cops had been asked to impose fine on violators. In this context, we penalised 18,624 violators riding two-wheelers without crash helmets in the first six months of this year, while 4,000 violators were booked for allowing double pillion riders in the said period. Similarly, we also penalised 3,300 violators for travelling in cars without seat belts, said the SSP. However, official figures revealed that in militancy infested Jammu and Kashmir, road mishaps proved more dangerous for human life in the Jammu region than militancy related incidents. More than 3,500 people were killed in road accidents while 660 people were killed in militancy related incidents in the Jammu region in the past five years. |
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Travel unsafe in minibuses
Jammu, July 21 Daily commuters, who risk their lives by travelling in “ road monsters” called minibuses, do not know whether they will safely reach their destinations. Playing of high- pitch music by the drivers, overcrowding and reckless driving have become a daily phenomenon. The commuters rue that despite repeated requests to drivers and conductors of the minibuses to stop playing loud music and drive with care, they refuse to do so. Expressing resentment, Manohar Lal(67),a resident of Gandhi Nagar, who is a heart patient said: “Though I have defeated death twice, I think I will die travelling. My wife and I live in a rented accommodation here and I do not have any other mode of commuting rather than public transport”. Manohar Lal said: “My palpitation increases whenever I travel in a minibus. Once I requested a driver to stop the music, but he arrogantly asked me to travel by some other minibus, if I did not want to hear the music”. Overcrowding is another major problem.During peak hours, the minibuses are not only packed to capacity but also passengers sit on the roof which is extremely dangerous. What is even worse is that such overloaded vehicles ply on narrow roads. “Minibuses come jam-packed from Bakshi Nagar and I have to travel standing for about 60 minutes daily”, said Ankush , a student. “I wait at Jewel Chowk for the minibus and during evening hours when it arrives, it is always overloaded . When the speeding vehicle comes to a halt , passengers, particularly small children and elders who are standing, are tossed around”, said Sanjay Pandita, a resident of Patoli. Over-speeding by minibus drivers which has already claimed several lives is another problem. “The drivers compete with one another for passengers and pose a threat to their lives as well as pedestrians , but the traffic police remains a mute spectator”, rued Sanmeet Kaur, a resident of Jewel Chowk. |
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No traffic lights for over 4.3 lakh vehicles
Jammu, July 21 With over 4,30,000 vehicles in Jammu district, the control and management of traffic in the area is conducted manually by a handful of traffic police personnel. There is chaos on the roads everyday as it becomes difficult for the authorities to control the flow of traffic manually. Locals blame the successive state governments for failing to take serious steps, including installing traffic lights. The need for these was felt in 1970, and at certain places, traffic lights were installed, but they were damaged in various anti-government demonstrations. Since then, there has been a significant increase in the traffic in Jammu, but its management has always remained a major problem. As the state traffic department is short of staff and cannot man each and every crossing, ‘no entry’ signboards have been placed at various places. But people seem to be least bothered about such signboards and flout the norms with impunity. To decongest the traffic in the city, the then Governor Jagmohan had even sanctioned a flyover for the city. Besides, the department had submitted a proposal to the government to install traffic lights and an expert team from Delhi had also arrived and conducted a survey, but no action has been taken so far. “Four years ago, the department had submitted a proposal for traffic lights. In its response, the roads and buildings department had sent an expert team to the city from New Delhi for conducting a survey. After completing the survey, the team had submitted its report, but more than four years have passed and no action has been taken on the recommendations,” said an officer of the traffic police department. He said the city was in the dire need of traffic lights and the government had to take measures in this regard. “We are a law enforcing agency and we can’t do it by ourselves. It is for the government to take a decision to install traffic lights. Even in 1970, the need for traffic lights was felt in the city. And now, when the traffic has increased manifold and given our deficiency of manpower, the government should install traffic lights,” the officer added. |
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Ban on tinted glasses being flouted
Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most security sensitive states in the country, but people here seem least bothered about the stringent security laws.
With the ever-increasing number of vehicles in Jammu, people continue to flout the norms by putting tinted films on the glasses of their vehicles. Almost one out of every third vehicle has tinted glasses. “Barring some VVIPs, including the Chief Minister, senior ministers and top bureaucrats, nobody is authorised to put tinted glasses on their vehicles. Even in such cases, the visibility of the glass in the front and rear should not be less than 70 per cent and in the side glasses, the visibility should be not less than 55 per cent,” said SSP (traffic), Jammu, Parminder Singh. Speaking to The Tribune, special mobile magistrate, Jammu, NA Khan said, “It is only the Additional DG (securities) who authorises the use of tinted glasses, but people continue to use tinted glasses without authorisation”. He said even putting a red-light beacon atop any vehicle without proper authorisation was illegal. “Using a red-light beacon atop any vehicle be it government or private is also a crime, but people violate the norm openly. To check the violation, I conduct surprise checks every alternate day and penalise the violators,” Khan said He said the violator was fined Rs 500 on first occasion and then thrice the amount on all subsequent violations. “It is a Supreme Court ruling that nobody can put tinted glasses or use a red-light beacon without proper permission,” Khan said, adding that the traffic police department had to take stringent measures to check violations in the city.
— TNS |
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Traffic diversions planned
Jammu, July 21 Every year, on an average, 25, 000 new vehicles are added. The transport department, too, is quite concerned about traffic congestion. Regional Transport Officer Ramesh Chand Sharma says: “With the increase in spending power from the boom period of 1992-93, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of vehicles every year. We cannot stop people from purchasing new vehicles as long as they have parking space. So, we are left with finding out other means to solve the traffic problem such as diverting it or building new lanes, bridges or flyovers.” Sharma informs about various measures that the state government has taken to manage the situation . He says, “To lessen the traffic on the city roads, the transport department has come up with a plan to divert it in various directions as per the routes. The bus stand for Rajouri-Poonch bound buses is being shifted to Paloura. Then another bus stand for Banan-Basoli bound buses is being shifted to Khanapur near Nagrota. Similarly, for
Jammu-Kathua-RS Pura, a bus stand is also being constructed on Birpur. Then, to divert heavy vehicles such as trucks , a fourth bridge is being constructed on Niki Tawi, so that the vehicles reach Rajouri-Poonch via Bhagwati Nagar.” He adds that for the Srinagar route, new diversions have been made through the bypass. This way, there will be no need for the buses to cross the city. Sharma also informs that a new inter-state bus stand in Narwal is ready. To reduce the burden on minibuses, the department has issued permits to 97-seat hi-tech buses which will have capacity to accommodate a large number of passengers.”These measures will go a long way in easing the traffic situation in the city”. |
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Passenger sheds in Jammu not being used
Jammu, July 21 There are around 15 sheds , but not even one is being utilised.People do not use the sheds due to the unhygienic conditions there. Most of the sheds have been constructed on drains due to which it becomes impossible for members of the public to stand under these. Pointing towards a shed, Vikrant Dogra of Gandhi Nagar, said, “This shed was constructed by the
corporation several years ago, but till date no one uses it because it is located
on a huge drain and there is foul smell.” At most of the places, the sheds are being used as garbage bins. The residents allege that even safai karamacharis dump garbage in the sheds. Expressing resentment over the unhygienic conditions of the sheds, Madhu Sharma, a resident of Bakshi Nagar, said, “The sheds have become a home for flies and mosquitoes. Accumulated garbage is lifted after weeks from here. How can we stand near it?” The sheds have become home for stray animals and beggars,besides drug addicts. In some areas, these have been established at bus stops, but the drivers do not stop the vehicles. Instead, they stop the vehicle anywhere on the road, which obstructs the free flow of traffic. In the Panchtirthi area, the sheds have been converted into a parking lot.Similarly, at Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, there is also a shed, but students do not use it for the same reason. At the Gandhi Nagar Gole Market, beggars, drug addicts and stray dogs use the shed. There is also an office of sanitation officer, along with this shed, but that remains closed. Vimal Tickoo, municipal joint commissioner, Works, admitted the bad condition of the sheds. He said due to lack of staff, the corporation could not pay attention to the sheds. Tickoo assured that he would take immediate action to rectify the situation. |
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Pollution check centres not effective
Jammu, July 21 Though the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) in consonance with the Motor Vehicles Department and the traffic police carries out regular drives, environmentalists feel suffocated over the rising air pollution due to the emissions by worn-out vehicles. There are only 29 pollution check centres in the entire region, including 23 in Jammu district, one each in Doda and Udhampur, three in Rajouri and one in Poonch. However, the rest of the five districts don’t have any such
centre. Questioning the authenticity of the government-approved private centres, an environmentalist, AK Sharma said, “The centres exist in name only. In reality, anyone can get a no-objection certificate from these”. “All heavy vehicles, especially the trucks, plying on the NH1A, emit harmful emissions. You don’t need any equipment to say that such vehicles run on kerosene instead of diesel,” he said, adding that, “Adulteration of fuel is directly linked to the problem, but again there is no check on it. The problem of vehicular pollution needs multiple approaches for redressal. If it is not redressed well in time, it would have far-reaching consequences on the environment and human lives”. “Earlier, there were 35 pollution checking centres, but the government has recently closed six centres as they were not meeting the standards set by the SPCB,” said SSP (traffic) Parminder Singh. “Highways don’t come under our jurisdiction. So, we just keep a tab on the vehicles plying in the cities of Jammu district only,” he said, adding that, “Most of the people comply with the norms and carry the certificates”. “However, sometimes the vehicles coming from other states don’t have such certificates, so we penalise them,” he said, adding that, “In Jammu district alone, 300 vehicles are penalised for not having such certificate, while in the entire region 450 vehicles are fined on a monthly basis”. “Along with the district transport officers and the traffic cops, we conduct surprise checks randomly. Vehicular emissions having gases like sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, monoxide, led, etc., are checked,” said Kuldeep Bhan, junior engineer, SPCB. “Those who don’t possess the certificate from the authorised centres are penalised,” he added. “Pollution control centres were set up during the previous coalition government. We invested Rs 5 lakh to set up a centre, but the drive seems to have fizzled out as the number of people coming to us for getting the emission of their vehicles checked has dwindled,” said an owner of one such
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Rahul Gandhi’s Nationwide Talent Hunt
Jammu, July 21 Shahnawaz Choudhary was earlier state vice-president of the state’s body. Rahul personally interviewed him before he was inducted into the panel of five national secretaries. The much-publicised nationwide interviews were conducted by Rahul to find future leaders. Among thousands of youth leaders, only five were chosen. For this young man, Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad, who himself was an active student leader before he joined the Congress, is role model besides he believes in the vision of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his son Rahul Gandhi. Being a student of Navodya Vidhyalya, he remained class representative, whereas in Aligarh Muslim University he joined the NSUI and came in touch with the ideology of the Congress. Choudhary graduated in LLB from Law School and is founder president of an NGO called the Society for Justice, Awareness and Deliverance - that has been creating awareness in the far-flung areas over legal issues and fundamental rights. “I have devoted my eight years to the NSUI and during this timeframe, I worked round-the-clock. My father, Haq Nawaz Khan, supported me a lot, but at the same time he was precarious about my future, as he did not foresee my future in politics. But now he is happy,” Choudhary said. Sharing things on the list of his agenda, Choudhary said, “I want to see myself as a leader. Keeping in view my rural background, I aim to promote right to education and enhance female literacy through my efforts.” “People entertain common notions that there is no future in politics and everyone is after MBBS and MBA. It is high time that youth start thinking about politics seriously,” he said, adding that, “Parliament needs intellectuals and scholars to formulate legislations. If educated youth stay away, corrupt people are likely to fill the political vacuum of our country.” “Youth feel disgruntled with the state of affairs in the country, but they do have a propensity to change the set up. Someone was supposed to take an initiative, Rahul Gandhi has done it and we need to strengthen his hands,” he said. Speaking over the politics of separatism in Kashmir, Choudhary said, “The government needs to approach the people of Kashmir with a sincere approach as they feel alienated unlike Jammu”. “Ensuing elections in Delhi University are impending challenges for me as the varsity goes to poll in the first week of September,” he said. “With the active support of the NSUI national president, Hi-bi-Hidden, I want to revolutionise the student cadre of the party,” he added. |
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Healthcare eludes residents of remote areas
Srinagar, July 21 Mohammad Azeem, a resident of Laragam in Kulgam district, has to cover a good distance in order to have access to medical facilities. “The government talks a lot and formulates plans on paper, but when it comes to the ground reality the picture is altogether different. Nearest healthcare centre available to me is at Danew Kandi Marg, 15-20 km away, but due to lack of facilities we have to look for other options,” says Azeem. Like Azeem, Ishaq Mohammad, a resident of Damhal Hanjipora, is also of the view that a lot needs to be done as far as improvement of health scenario in his area is concerned. He says that since doctors don’t attend to their duties regularly they are forced to look for other options where healthcare is available. “People come to health camps organised by the health department, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the security forces every now and then. This shows that somewhere down the line something has gone wrong as far as providing the health facilities to the masses is concerned,” says Ishaq. The security forces, more so the Army, conduct medical camps and they in collaboration with the health department distribute medicines as well among the people in some remote areas. “It has been observed that medicines are made available by the health department during such camps, but when we visit their hospitals they deny having any supply of medicines available. This shows the dual policy of the health department and they need to be accounted for their action,” says Imtiyaz Ahmad, a resident of Beerwah in Budgam district. An official in the health department said under the NRHM programme, the department had set up scores of health centres across the state. “Although, we have made strides in upgrading health infrastructure, still a lot needs to be done. We are in the process of strengthening the health institutions in the far-off and the remote areas and hopefully people living over there would feel the difference,” says the official. |
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Mandi govt school without principal
Sawjian-Mandi (Poonch), July 21 Locals here said Government Middle School, Dhanna, here was running without a principal for about three months affecting the studies of the students. “The school not only lacks a principal but also has staff who attend school off and on hitting the studies of the students who mostly belong to poor families,” they added. “There is no principal in the school for the past about three months. Besides, the school has staff which attend the school off and on. This has badly affected the studies of our children. We are poor people and hence cannot afford to send our wards to private schools,” rued Manzoor Ahmed, a petty farmer whose son Rafi studies in class VIII in the school. “We hear that every now and then the government makes tall claims of providing quality education in the remote areas of the state but on ground it is rhetoric. If the government is really serious about providing quality education, it should appoint more teachers in schools like this”. He added that on several occasions, the locals have urged the education authorities to depute a principal for the school and also to make surprise checks about the presence of teachers in the school but to no avail. A student of the school said since they had no school head, the teachers hardly taught them anything. A local source in the education department confirming that there is no principal in the school for about three months said principal Ashwani Kumar, a local, had got himself attached to zonal education officer (ZEO) office in Mandi since the school was in the far-flung area. He added that even a teacher, Shabnam, who is a maternal cousin of local MLA Ajaz Ahmed Jan visited the school occasionally. The source said this was not the only school that lacked a principal in the Mandi area but there were two to three more such schools which were running without a head. A senior officer in the education department while expressing shock on the matter said it would be thoroughly probed as to why the school was running without a principal. |
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JAMMU DIARY
People subscribe to all kinds of caller songs or hello tunes on their mobile phones. But one specially used in the security sensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir has become a talk of the town. Callers are left bamboozled when instead of the “tring-tring” or a song, one hears, “Your call is being recorded for security purposes. The national security is paramount so please cooperate by speaking loudly and clearly”. This has become an instant hit with cops or other security agencies. It also prevents hoax callers or those making time-wasting calls. Revisit of old times
Old times are back in Jammu. How? Thanks to the ban on polythene. Buy any commodity from marketplace, shopkeepers or vendors and much to your surprise you would be given the purchase wrapped in a newspaper or a paper pouch. Along with the purchase, salesmen don’t forget to say with a grin on their face, “Puranaa zamana aa gaya ji”. Eco-friendly transport
With the passage of time, there has been a sea change in the mode of transport and now to save time, people are adopting the fastest possible means to travel, but in this fast world, there are a large number of people who still rely on the age-old “trusted” mode of transport. “A tonga is more reliable than a vehicle that runs on petrol or diesel, the vehicle can develop some snag and we can miss our classes, but as we use tonga we never miss a single day of our school as it never develops a technical snag,” says Kishore, a student. “These tongas are also environment friendly,” he adds. (see picture) When plumber turns guest
Problems like the scarcity of water and electricity in hot summer months can render anybody helpless. In the face of such problems, one of The Tribune correspondents was recently humbled by a plumber. This correspondent was not getting water in her rented apartment for more than a week. She called a plumber, who repaired the motor pump but failed to restore the water supply. She asked him to come at the time of water supply at 7 am. When he refused, she tempted him with the promise of a sumptuous breakfast. The trick clicked and the next day, the plumber arrived along with his assistant. The host made them to sit in the drawing room in front of a TV with air cooler switched on as well. Meanwhile, the correspondent had to sweat it out in the kitchen for preparing breakfast for the guests. After relishing the breakfast, the plumber and his assistant began their work, but they failed to restore the water supply. The plumber went away expressing his inability to come
again. (Contributed by Jupinderjit Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Tejinder Singh Sodhi and Seema Sharma) |
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