Srinagar, August 24
While heated discussions were held on issues like power and ration supplies, uproarious scenes and walkouts by the opposition PDP and Panthers Party were witnessed in the state Assembly today. PDP members walked out over the issue of ration supplies, three members of Panthers Party protested over inadequate funds for district development in Udhampur. Rachhpal Singh, National Conference member from Kalakote (Rajouri), walked out over the lack of power supplies in his constituency.

Participating in the discussion over the power sector under Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme (PMRP) during question hour, members raised the issue concerning their respective constituencies. The question raised by AR Veeri of the PDP was discussed with different members cutting across party lines. Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone had to intervene to allow minister-in-charge Nawang Rigzin Jora to put forth the government’s point of view. Earlier, the minister, in written reply, said estimated hydel potential of the state was 20,000 MW out of which 16,480 MW had been identified.

Soon after question hour, PDP members staged a walkout seeking the Speaker’s attention towards discussion on the position of ration supplies in the state. Members expressed concern over supply position during the holy month of Ramzan.

Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar said there was no lack of supplies, but demand had increased due to wide gap in the prices of government ration and market rates. PDP members later returned to the House after the Speaker took up the issue.

Three members of the Panthers Party - Harsh Dev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yashpal Kundal - walked out protesting against the apathetic attitude towards the development in Udhampur district that, according to them, was provided with the least funding of Rs 1.37 crore in the state. Giving figures of other districts, Harsh Dev Singh claimed that Ganderbal was given highest funds of over Rs 11 crore. The members also sought transfer of the Deputy Commissioner concerned. Even as Finance Minister AR Rather tried to intervene, they staged a walkout.

Jammu, August 24
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) seems to have misplaced priorities in execution of projects in North India.

The work of six-laning the Karnal-Jalandhar stretch of the National Highway-I has begun without providing at least a two-lane Jalandhar-Jammu Highway or a four-lane Jalandhar-Amritsar Highway.

Thousands of commuters on the Jalandhar-Jammu Highway negotiate vehicles and potholes on the single lane highway. The deadline of the project has been extended twice. Condition of the Jalandhar-Amritsar Highway is also critical.

But instead of pumping resources and infrastructure to speed up the work on this project, the NHAI is going ahead with the six-laning of the Karnal Jalandhar Highway that is wide enough for smooth flow of traffic. With four lanes and sub lanes, the highway seems good enough to handle traffic flow.

Destruction is seen along the highway as trees are being cut. News reports indicate lakhs of trees would be removed for the project. The Centre could have hold the project for few years, In the meantime, saplings could have been planted beyond the area required for the project so that colossal loss to the environment was prevented.

Such removal of forest cover is not new. In 2000, thousands of trees along the Ludhiana-Chandigarh Highway were removed for widening of the road. Most of the plants were sown just 5-6 years ago under a Japanese afforestation project. All the money and effort in the international project, thus, went waste. Also, there are no signs of construction of a bridge over Satluj near Phillaur. It is almost two years since warning signs of the weak bridge were pasted but nothing has been done in this regard.

Commuters are virtually paying though their noses for the hefty toll tax charged at the bridge. One wonders if construction of a new bridge over the river was more important or the six-laning of the highway?

Samba, August 24
The construction of a flyover at Vijaypur is stuck due to its ‘faulty’ design. Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal has asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to build it with pillars and columns so that traffic could flow with visibility across on both sides.

The NHAI, who has already got the design of the flyover approved from the state government, thinks it infeasible to build flyovers in small towns on pillars, a costly proposition. The matter finally has hit an impasse.

The NHAI has sought the state government’s intervention on directions for the removal of the concept of flyover from the project. Col MK Jain, project director, says, “By building a straight road instead of a flyover, the state highway will merge with the national highway, which will create a conflict zone and give rise to accidents. I have asked the state government to issue clear guidelines about the matter so that we can proceed further.”

It is sad that the project, where the plan was ready and the service road too had been built, had got blocked due to conflicting opinions. Fearing the repeat of incidents of Bari-Brahmana, where people had protested over the construction of a flyover, Kotwal had asked the NHAI to reconsider a similar design for Vijaypur.

Whereas, Col Jain says, “As per the norms throughout India, flyovers under the NHAI projects are not built with pillars or columns in small towns, as many such structures have to be built. It is understandable that the addition of pillars in the plan will escalate the cost of the project many times.”

Instead Jain accuses vested interests of politicising the case of flyover at Bari-Brahmana. “In Vijaypur, we will provide two openings of 70 feet each to facilitate easy traffic flow. People will be able to commute on both sides of roads through these openings,” he informs.

Top PWD officials told The Tribune that by providing openings in the flyover the interests of people could be safeguarded and the cost of the flyover maintained.

Srinagar, August 24
As many as 1000 micro Hydel electric projects are being executed by the Army under Border Area Development Programme and Operation Sadbhavana at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

This was stated by Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora in the Assembly today in reply to supplementary questions from various members.

The minister said under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan, hydro electric project at Uri (phase-II) with the capacity of 240 MW, Buzgo with a capacity of 45 MW, Chutak with 44 MW capacity, Bursar with 1,020 MW capacity and Kishenganga with the capacity of 330 MW are the central power projects. He said Pakal Dul Hydro Electric Project with the capacity of 1,000 MW has been taken up as a joint venture between the J&K State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC), NHPC and PTC at a cost of Rs 3,480 crore.

Discussion on a question of PDP member AR Veeri regarding measures for exploiting the power potential in the state and details of various power products under execution dominated the proceedings of the House during question hour.

Replying to the questions, Jora said under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin VidutikaranYojna all un-electrified villages and hamlets in the state would be covered during the current year at an estimated cost of Rs 700 crore.

Earlier, replying to the main question Minister of State for Power Shabir Ahmad Khan stated that under the state hydel policy, 10 power projects have been awarded to various IPPS through two stage transparent competitive feeding process.

He said projects in operation with JKSPDC include Marpachoo on Indus, Haftal, Sumoor, Hunder, Bazgo and Bhaderwah on Chenab. He said two projects at Matchil and Sanjak were under construction at an estimated cost of Rs 16.44 crore. The minister said power potential of the state was estimated at 20,000 MW, out of which 16,480 MW had been identified and the hydel potential harnessed so far in the state was 2,318 MW. 

Srinagar, August 24
The Commissioner of Railway Safety has given clearance for operating DMU on the 19-km Qazigund-Anantnag stretch of the Qazigund-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project that would complete the entire 119-km-long railway line within the valley.

This was stated by Chahatey Ram, Chief Engineer (construction), North-East, Northern Railway, when Governor NN Vohra came for the inspection of the Qazigund railway station today. The Chief Engineer, while briefing the Governor, said the latest technology has been introduced at the Qazigund railway station to facilitate quick train movements.

The Governor took stock of the amenities being put in place for the passengers.

First Lady Usha Vohra, Principal Secretary to the Governor Raj Kumar Goyal and other senior civil and police officers accompanied the Governor, who checked the hi-tech ASM-cum-panel room and solid state interlocking room. The Governor was briefed about the entire site plan of the railway station by the senior Railway officers.

Vohra also visited the tunnel site at Lower Munda and took stock of the pace of work on the construction of the 11-km-long Pir Panjal Railway tunnel connecting Qazigund with Banihal. Out of the 11-km-long tunnel, work on eight km has been completed so far. The tunnel is scheduled to be completed by December 2010 and thereafter the process for laying of track will commence.

Later, the Governor visited the famous tourist spot of Verinag. While talking to the officers, Vohra emphasised the need for further upgrading the facilities at the resort as a large number of tourists visit the place. He also directed cleaning up of the historic Verinag spring and fixing glass frames on the two stone plaques on which the history of this spring is inscribed. He also called for better upkeep of the garden and other infrastructure at Verinag.

Later the Governor also visited Trout Fish Farming Project at Kokernag.

Jammu, August 24
Though swine flu has not assumed alarming proportion in the state, the government has decided to set up two testing laboratories in Jammu and Srinagar.

According to official sources, on the directions of Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma, Jammu too would have a testing lab for the H1N1 virus.

They said though the government had already decided to set up a laboratory at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, the proposal to have another one in Jammu had been put on hold.

However, Sharma, who had recently returned from Delhi, was keen on having a similar lab at the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, so as to check spread of the contagious infection with early detection and treatment of suspected cases.

It may be stated here that presently National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in New Delhi has been furnishing results of blood samples after a gap of more than 72 hours.

Sources said Chopra Nursing Home inside GMC premises here has already been closed for routine patients and reserved for H1N1 patients in case the influenza assumes pandemic form.

Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, confirmed that a similar testing lab would now be set up in Jammu. “Setting up a testing lab for swine flu is no big deal as certain chemicals and equipments are required to conduct the tests,” he said.

Meanwhile, blood samples of two male patients, including a soldier from garrison town of Udhampur, were airlifted to National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, today.

Srinagar, August 24
Former minister and Panthers Party member Harsh Dev Singh expressed concern over the “continued absence” of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from the Assembly here today.

Immediately after taking up his question regarding implementation of District Development Board (DDB) decisions, particularly in Udhampur district, Harsh Dev Singh referred to the absence of the Chief Minister. He claimed that except for one day, the Chief Minister had not been present in the Assembly for the past 12 days. He said the issue had become a matter of concern for all members of the House.

Intervening on the issue, Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather pointed out that in the absence of the Chief Minister any authorized minister was empowered to respond and reply to the members’ queries at any time. He added that the Chief Minister had authorised him (Finance Minister) in writing that all such cases would be “handled by me”. “All questions being taken up in the House have been approved by me and not the Chief Minister”, Rather said, adding that he was authorised on behalf of the Chief Minister to reply to the queries.

Later, a senior official of the Chief Minister’s office said that the member’s observations were wrong, adding that Omar Abdullah had attended the Assembly only three days back. The Chief Minister had been on a tour of the distant and far-flung areas of the state, including Kargil in the Ladakh region and Gurez in north Kashmir, inaugurating various projects and addressing public meetings.

Expressing his concern over the CM’s absence, Harsh Dev Singh observed: “You cannot take the House for granted”. The member, supported by his party colleagues, held that the Chief Minister being head of the Assembly should be present in the House. Referring to former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the Panthers Party MLA held that they used to be present in the House for most of the proceedings. “This is the question of the state. There should be no non-seriousness”, Harsh Dev Singh remarked. 

Jammu, August 24
The VHP today demanded a judicial probe into the theft of centuries-old idol of “Bal Asht Dashbuja” from the Mahakali temple at the historic Parna Mandir in the Chingam area of Chatroo in Kishtwar district.

The idol was stolen from the temple in December last year.

Addressing a press conference, VHP’s state president Dr Ramakant Dubey said it was a matter of shame that the idol of “Bal Asht Dashbuja” worth crores of rupees was stolen by some miscreants from the temple in Kishtwar.

He suspected the involvement of foreigners in the theft. He said some foreigners might have connived with some local miscreants to steal the idol worth more than Rs 10 crore in the international market. The same idol was stolen some 15-16 years ago and was later recovered, Dubey said.

Dubey demanded help from Interpol, besides a judicial inquiry into the incident. He criticised the state government for failing to take measures for the recovery of the idol.

Samba, August 24
Even as Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir has accepted that the farm sector had suffered a loss of more than Rs 406 crore due to the failed monsoon, farmers of Samba district have urged the government to declare the region as drought-hit.

“We have suffered huge losses from the day we started sowing seeds as the Irrigation Department failed to provide adequate water,” said Krishan Lal, a farmer of Talgarh village in Samba district.

“The entire crop wilted due to lack of water as the entire irrigation system in the area was defunct,” he added.

“We are almost on the verge of starvation. We had invested everything we had in the hope that this year we would get a good yield but as there was no rain, the entire crop has failed. Even the government promises to provide better irrigation facilities proved hollow,” said Tirlochan Singh of Sadoh village . The Agriculture Minister had said losses in Jammu province was between 55-80 per cent with the standing kharif crop being badly hit.

As per an estimate, the state has so far suffered an estimate reduction of more than 4.5 lakh tonnes in foodgrain production and it was expected to go up.

“We have no other source of income and our livelihood depends on agriculture. We urge the government to declare the state as drought-hit so that we could get some compensation,” said Prem Singh of Talgarh village .

Mir said: “Norms are already set to declare any area as drought-hit. We cannot ask the Centre as we are not in that category.”

When asked whether the farmers who had suffered huge losses due to the continued dry spell in the region would be given compensation, Mir said: “We are already assessing the situation and the farmers who have suffered losses will be properly compensated.”

Jammu, August 24
Suraj Singh, a visually impaired postgraduate student at the University of Jammu, today held a demonstration in front of the university library. He is on fast to make the authorities concerned set up an e-learning educational centre for the visually impaired students of the university and its affiliated colleges.

Demanding the centre with all necessary requirements for the past four years, Suraj Singh said his demand was accepted by ex-Vice Chancellor Amitabh Mattoo. He appealed to present Vice-Chancellor Varun Sahni to intervene in the matter so that blind students could continue their studies in a smooth manner.

Suraj said when the proposal had reached its final stage, the authorities had refused to provide any basic infrastructure and equipment necessary to run software in computers.

Besides, the authorities had agreed to provide just one computer for the centre which could not meet the requirements of so many students. 

Srinagar, August 24
The state is receiving foodgrains from the Centre under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) on the basis of national norms, taking the population in 2000 as uniform basis for allocation.

Stating this in the Assembly, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Qamar Ali Akhoon today said the state population in 2000 was 99.45 lakh, number of households was 18.02 lakh fixed by the Planning Commission on the basis of average size of household at 5.52. As per these norms, the state has been getting 63, 067 MTs per month and this quota has not been slashed.

Jammu and Kashmir and seven others special category states are getting foodgrains at the scale of 35 kg per household per month for all categories i.e. APL, BPL and AAY irrespective of the size of the family while non-special category states get only 10 kg food grains for APL category per household, the minister said.

In view of the holy month of Ramzan, the state government has decided that instead of giving 35 kg ration per rationee, 50 kg of ration would be given. For this, additional quantity of 63, 000 MTs of foodgrains has been procured.

The minister said the rationees would be provided with this ration in September. He added that steps had also been taken to check pilferage.

Akhoon also showed concern over the manifold increase in demand for ration under TPDS and constraints in meeting it in view of inadequate allocation of foodgrains by the Centre.

Later, the House had passed grants for the current year amounting to Rs 1,05,700.98 lakh for departments under his charge. 

Sarol (Rajouri) August 24
As terrorists’ operative in the state use residential areas as hideouts to carry out their nefarious activities, the Army conducts the cordon and search operations (CASO) to eliminate or arrest hiding terrorists.

The Army is providing training to its soldiers to carry out successful CASO at Corps Battle School at Sarol in the frontier district of Rajouri.

The CASO is conducted only after the Army gets specific information regarding the movement of suspected terrorists in an area. The Army carries out the CASO in five parts. Five teams are constituted that include a cordon party, a search party, an interrogation party, a reserved party and a civic action party, including a team comprising a doctor and a nursing assistant with medicines, equipment, ration, and water etc.

Lt-Col Anil Rana, an instructor at the school, said, “The CASO is carried out only after specific information. Specially-trained troops are sent to the area and search operations are conducted. During the operations, the troops ensure that civilians don’t face any difficulty and there should not be any damage to their property.”

He added, “During the operation, we avoid damage to life and property. Civilian life and property is protected at any cost.” The Army maintains good relation with local residents. They are taken into confidence so that they share valuable information with the Army.

The CASO is carried out to avoid collateral damage and the Army first asks the holed up terrorist to surrender and if he does not surrender, it resort to the use of force.

The Army also informed that in order to maintain safety on the roads, they send a road opening party (ROP). The ROP ensures the smooth movement of vehicles of civilians and security forces.

Capt Susheel, another instructor at the school, says first the picketing party conducts a search in the area to ensure smooth plying of vehicles. Then the search party looks for explosives in the areas and if they detect any explosive, a quick reaction team led by search commandos searches for the IED and acts quickly upon the information.

Then a jammer vehicle passes through the area to jam the signals of the IEDs. Finally, the rescue team comes and defuses the bomb.

Jammu, August 24
A man shot dead his brother, while two others, including the son-in-law of the victim, were injured in a clash allegedly over a piece of disputed land in the Chowadi area of Sainik Colony this morning.

Official sources said panic gripped residents of the Chowadi area around 8.30 am today after Bashir Ahmed and his sons Majid, Javed and Parvez shot 55-year-old Shamas Din, son of Qutab Din, in the chest with a 12 bore gun following a verbal duel. They said trouble erupted this morning when Shamas Din, incited by his son-in-law Irshad Ahmed, started construction work on the disputed land, inviting the wrath of his younger brother Bashir Ahmed.

Bashir along with his three sons arrived at the site and objected to the construction work, the sources said. They added within no time tempers ran high and in a fit of rage Bashir allegedly shot dead Shamas. Shamas was shot twice, while his son-in-law was also shot by the accused, they said. All five shots were fired by Bashir, they added. Besides a labourer was also injured.

The sources said, besides Bashir, Shamas had another brother Mohammed Hussain, who had no child, and Shamas was allegedly incited by Irshad to go ahead with the construction work without sorting out the long pending dispute. It has been learnt that Irshad was a driver of a senior police officer.

The sources said five shots were fired in the bloody clash, which led to panic among the residents. Recently, village elders had unsuccessfully tried to iron out the differences between the brothers, they added. However, Mehmood Khan, Sainik Colony police post in charge, said five shells of 12 bore gun were recovered from the crime site.

Khan said a hunt had been launched to nab the accused and his three sons. A case under Section 302, RPC, has been registered.

Jammu, August 24
A minor boy died of snakebite in Arnia village, near here, today.

Official sources said four-year-old Vikas, son of a soldier, was fast asleep with his parents when a venomous snake bit him.

Though he was rushed to Government Medical College, Jammu, doctors declared him brought dead, they added.