Aggar Jitto (Reasi), October 27
Amari Devi, a resident of Aggar Jitto, has to travel a distance of over 3 km every morning to get two buckets of water for her family. As most of the natural resources have almost depleted due to the prevailing draught-like conditions and the authorities concerned were non serious in solving their problems, inhabitants of this belt, which is located adjoining Katra town, have been struggling to get adequate drinking water throughout the year.

“Every morning we have to travel a distance of more than 3 km to get potable water for our families,” said Amari Devi, who, along with other women, fetches water from a bowli (fresh water spring). Interestingly, the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department has laid down pipes to ensure the adequate supply of drinking water, but the taps are running dry because all water supply schemes implemented by the authorities virtually became defunct as the average life of these schemes have been already completed. Pipes have been laid on roadside villages, but the situation is worst in the remote villages.

Notwithstanding the repeated statements of the authorities to develop the Katra and Reasi areas as the belt for attracting tourism, residents of this belt have been confronting with numerous problems due to the non-availability of basic infrastructure. Casual approach being adopted by the authorities can be gauged from the fact that numerous proposals for redesigning of more than 30 existing water supply schemes have been submitted to the government, but the files have been gathering dust in offices.

“We have submitted numerous proposals to the government to redesign the schemes which have already attained their average life,” Mohammad Rafiq Khan, executive engineer, PHE, said. He admitted that inhabitants of Reasi district have been facing the scarcity of drinking water.

“Due to the prevailing draught-like conditions, most of the natural resources have been depleted. Due to the topography of the district, the residents of this belt largely depend upon the natural resources for water, but after the depletion of these resources people solely depend upon the PHE department for the supply of water,” he said.

Although entire Reasi district is confronting with the scarcity of potable water, situation is worst in the Pouni block where a majority of the villages are without the facility of proper drinking water.

Residents of Sanghar and Kharalaid panchayats of the Pouni block, which comprises six villages, have to solely depend upon the natural resources for drinking water. After the depletion of these resources, villagers have to cover a long distance to get drinking water for their families.

Srinagar, October 27
Call it Kashmir's distrust of their leaders or their penchant for picking a fight with official machinery. In the ever-restive social and political lives in the valley, coordination committees are the new magnet for the protesting masses.

When a few noblemen met in Langate a day after a local youth was killed by the Army on October 24, allegedly for intruding into its camp and attacking a guard with an axe, their first decision was to form a five-member coordination committee to "spearhead their agitation to its logical conclusion".

Coordination committees, a loose body comprising relatively well-known locals, have been in vogue in Kashmir since fractious separatist groups came together last year under the umbrella of a coordination committee to lead their agitation against the allotment of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board.

Few know if the committee still exists and, more importantly, if it holds any significance for separatists split in several camps; but the idea of such committees has come to stay.

When some people in Bomai, Sopore, managed to get an army camp vacated after two civilians were killed in firing at alleged militants, many believed it was better to lead an independent agitation than to get led by separatists or mainstream politicians who have often their own vested interests. "We came for a specific purpose and had no hidden or long-term agenda," Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, a local, said.

Similar committees were formed to lead agitation in Khaigam, where a civilian died in CRPF firing, and then in Shopian in May-end this year. In Shopian, where the finding of two women’s bodies in a rivulet sparked off angry protests across the valley, they named in Majlis-e-Mashawarat (consultative body) but the idea remained the stay. "We wanted to stay clear of any political thoughts and did not want to be branded with any party or politician," Mohammad Shafi Khan, a committee member said.

However, political parties, especially separatists, who would channelise all agitations to further their own agenda - as visible during Muzaffarabad-chalo call in August last year - are not really happy. Geelani snubbed the Majlis when it gave a strike call in Kashmir, saying that it should keep such a strike confined to Shopian only. His posters were burnt there but he was concerned that such loose bodies should not occupy a broader space.

But it is clear as daylight in the valley that aggrieved people do not trust either separatists, who find their cause in every personal tragedy, or mainstream politicians, who suffer from lack of larger acceptance, to lead them to justice.

Jammu, October 27
Polythene carry bags have made a comeback in the markets of the winter capital city within months after their use was banned under the Jammu and Kashmir Non Bio-Degradable Material (Management, Handling and Disposal) Act 2007, on May 11 this year.

Under the provisions of the Act, it is primarily the responsibility of district magistrate or deputy commissioners, municipal coporations and the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to check the use of polyethylene carry bags.

The ban was a success in the beginning as the MC and the SPCB seized large quantities of polythene bags to discourage their use. However, polythene carry bags have started resurfacing and their use is fast catching up.

Earlier, shoppers were seen carrying jute or cloth bags or eco-friendly carry bags made up of Styrofoam in marketplaces, but now one can easily spot people carrying their purchases in polythene carry bags provided by shopkeepers.

The comeback of polythene is a cause of concern for environmentalists who allege that the government has succumbed to the pressure of polythene manufacturers.

There are as many as 50 manufacturing units of polythene carry bags in Jammu alone that give livelihood to as many as 20,000 people. At the time of ban, these people had accused the government of taking decision in haste without inviting any objections or prior notice.

“The state government has weak policies regarding environment protection. With a blanket ban on polythene carry bags, we were expecting that all sort of polythene packaging would be banned as the inorganic material is deteriorating the soil quality,” said AK Sharma, an environmentalist.

He added that the government should rehabilitate people directly dependent on polythene bags manufacturing and impose the ban in letter and spirit.

“Polythene has not been our priority so far as the ban is being followed. But now we have started getting feedback about the violations. The administration would soon depute special squads to check violations,” said Jammu DC. However, he could not reveal the exact quantity of polythene that the civil administration has seized so far.

“We don’t have any scientific method for disposing of the seized polythene bags. We just hand it over to the SPCB,” said municipal commissioner Mubarakh Singh, who made it sure that that the civic body would conduct surprise checks to seize polythene bags.

He, too, did not divulge the quantity of polythene handed over to the SPCB since the ban was imposed.

SPCB regional director BM Sharma said: “We have seized at least 7 tonne of polythene bags from different districts so far”.

Jammu, October 27
The elections for the Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI), Jammu, will take place tomorrow.The elections were necessitated after the mysterious death of then president of the CCI, Ram Sahai, who the police said had committed suicide by shooting himself in his office chambers in the first week of August .

As many as 1,508 voters will elect the president, senior vice-president, vice -president, general secretary and the cashier for the Chamber Of Commerce And Industries, Jammu.

The main issues that are being taken up by the contenders are the promises of providing better infrastructure for industrial units, and asking the government to fulfil all its commitments made to the industrial units set up in the region.

As per the constitution of the CCI, Jammu, the elections for the office-bearers are to be held after every two years, but this year's election is being held after almost 10 years due to some cases the previous office- bearers had filed in the Supreme Court," said an office-bearer of the CCI.

Earlier, the elections could not be conducted as the previous office-bearers had obtained a stay order from the Supreme Court. 

Jammu, October 27
At a time when thousands of employees of different government departments and corporations are protesting in favour of their demands for better salary, promotional avenues and allowances, a PhD study has claimed that government employees are more happy vis a vis people working in the private sector.

Even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has stressed the need for creating more jobs in the private sector, the study states that people in the private sector score less on well-being as compared to government employees.

Dr Prabhjot Kaur, assistant professor, Directorate of Distant Education, Jammu University, has got her doctorate degree through her research, “Psychological well-being, a comparative study of executives of government and private organisations in Jammu”, under the guidance of Prof Sham Sur Rehman Khann, head, Department of Psychology.

The sample study was conducted on 250 government and 250 private employees. Of these, 100 were women in each category. The study sample was further divided in 75 men each in 21-40 age group, and 75 in 41-56 age group. The study was done on executive level employees.

The study reveals that the government executives are high on total well-being, happiness, satisfaction, joy, self-esteem and social condition. They are found more self-determining and independent. Further, they are also found to have warm, satisfying and trusting relationships with other employees and are concerned about their welfare.

Interestingly, the government employees are also satisfied with the general law and order situation, economy and socio-political scenario in the country.

Dr Prabhjot Kaur reasons that these employees are happy because of security of job and pension benefits. They do not have to struggle to survive in the organisation.

Further, the study reveals that men are higher on personal growth and development. They also have a higher sense of realising their potential.

The study finds that even if a woman is well-educated and has a sound economic and occupational status, she is generally introduced as a wife or daughter of so and so, although there are exceptions. While a man exists in his own right, a woman still exists in relation to him. The study, however, notes that woman employees are more satisfied, calm and efficient whereas men are higher on self-esteem and accomplishments.

Comparing the young employees with over 40 years old, the study says young private employees are better as they have ample evaluation and growth opportunities. The older ones are stagnated and try to evaluate their life job wise. Again, when comparing under-40 government employees with private employees, it is found that the government employees are happy, have a positive attitude and better relationships.

Dr Prabhjot Kaur argues that this may be because government executives have more time spend with their family and friends while private executives have long working hours.

In the age group of 40 and above, the government employees have a better sense of well-being while the private ones are not unhappy, but they are less satisfied.

Srinagar, October 27
The Army is using land in Ladakh division for entertaining the families of its officials in the name of defence of the nation, the state government has alleged.

In an affidavit submitted in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, state Advocate-General M I Qadiri said this while responding to the Army claim about a piece of land near the picturesque Pangong lake.

The affidavit was filed in response to the Army's claim that the police could not proceed against erring officials who had allegedly manhandled civil and police officials while they were returning after demolishing an "unauthorised" structure of the Army at the lake in the Ladakh region.

"...in fact, the boat is being used by the Army on the pretext of patrolling for the entertainment of their families and not for any defence purpose. So far as no one has witnessed that the boat has been used either for surveillance or any other defence purpose," the affidavit said while referring to the deployment of a boat patrol base.

The dispute was sparked as the police secured a non-bailable warrant against three Army officials - Major-Gen Manvendra Singh (the then Brigadier), Col M P Erray and Major S Dabbas -- from the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Leh for allegedly manhandling civilian officials, who were returning from Pangong lake after demolishing the alleged illegal structure erected by the Army in 2005. The officials had allegedly manhandled the then SDM of Nyoma Ali Raza and two other officials. The state also strongly objected to the Army's claim that government officials were hampering the work of men in olive while they were performing national duty.

The state government said: "It is not only the Army which cares about the defence and security of the country but the civil administration is equally sensitive and responsible about the security of the state and provide logistic support..." The lake, situated at 13,900 ft and 168 km from Leh, is frequented by hundreds of foreign tourists. An inner line permit is required to visit the lake as it lies on the Sino-India Line of Actual Control with two-thirds of it lying in China.

It became the centre of a legal battle between state administration and the Army over its ownership after the state planned to encourage tourism near the lake.

The state also told the court that the Army's claim of the land in question being with it since 1962 was absolutely wrong as all land and revenue records showed that it was a wildlife sanctuary area and the Army had "illegally" occupied and constructed a structure in 2005 only. — PTI

Meet the author, an event organised by the Sahitya Akademi in the honour of eminent Dogri poet Yash Sharma recently was memorable for more than one reason. Besides being a literary treat, it brought to the fore the relation of a husband and wife as true companions of each other.

The octogenarian poet while reciting his poems or discussing poignant remembrances was seen asking his wife Raksha Sharma: What happened after that? That great poet… who has written… what was his name? Which poem I have to recite now? etc.