Jammu, March 30
Despite being aware of the fact of increasing encroachment on the government’s land, the Revenue Department or officials concerned seemed to be in a deep slumber or not willing to take any action against the encroachers.

As per official records, the government land measuring more than 1,60,358 kanals has been encroached upon in Jammu district alone, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.

This matter has also been raised by many MLCs and MLAs belonging to various parties in this Budget Session but no action has been taken in this regard as yet.

On the one hand, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is claiming transparency and accountability in the government and on the other, encroachment on a large scale is exposing the working of the state government.

If official sources are to be believed, then there is a nexus operating between some senior officials of the Revenue Department and land mafias. The sources further revealed that the land mafias pay huge money to encroach upon government land, that’s why the department is not willing to take any action against them.

A few days ago, a discussion was held in the Legislative Council, when MLC Amrit Malhotra raised the issue and asked whether the government had constituted any committee under the DDC to look into encroachments or not.

In his reply, Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla accepted the fact that a large chunk of government land had been encroached upon and no committee was constituted in this regard as yet.

However, he assured the house that a committee would be constituted shortly to look into the matter and to prepare a detailed report about the names of encroachers.

He further said legal action would be taken against all the encroachers and not even a single land grabber would be allowed to go scot-free.

Srinagar, March 30
Every morning comes with a ray of hope for Tahira, a resident of Uri tehsil of Baramulla district, that her husband who has been missing for the past eight years would return. Tariq Ahmed Rather, Tahira’s husband and father of three sons, went missing in December 2002. She has been running from pillar to post to know about his whereabouts since then.

Every time, she goes out or takes part in a protest demonstration or meets any officer or a political leader, she takes along her son, Sahil, who was two years old when his father went missing.

Tahira is not the only one. According to an estimate, there are more than 1,500 “half widows” in the entire valley as the whereabouts of their missing husbands are not known.

“I am a half widow as I don’t know what is the fate of my husband, whether he is alive or dead. But still I have a hope that he would return one day,” said Tahira.

Most of these “half widows” blame that their husbands were picked up by security forces and after that their whereabouts were not known. The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) says in the past two decades of turmoil in the valley, around 8,000 persons, including children, have gone missing.

“We ask the government to tell us if these people are alive. Their family members must be allowed to meet them and if they are dead, their relatives have the right to know that,” said Ghulam Nabi, spokesman for the APDP. Four sons of Abdul Karim, a resident of Dewar in Kupwara district, have gone missing. He found the bodies of two of them, but he is yet to know the whereabouts of his remaining two sons.

“My first son went missing in early 1995, two in later part of 1995 and one in 2001. The bullet-riddled bodies of two of my sons were found within a few weeks, but I don’t know the fate of the other two,” Karim said. The successive state governments have given different figures about the persons missing from the valley.

“Last year, the government said 3,429 persons were missing, the PDP government had said that 2,931 were missing and in 2002, the then NC government said 3,700 persons were missing. A recent statement of the government states that 1,105 persons are missing,” Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator of the Coalition of Civil Societies, said.

He said an independent and impartial inquiry should be conducted to verify the claims and those responsible for such disappearances should be punished.

Meanwhile, for “half widows” life has never been easy as most of them are unemployed and do petty jobs to earn a livelihood.

Chatha, March 30
Even as the farmers in the region are using fungicides to remove the yellow rust from the wheat crop, experts of Sher-e-Kashmir University for Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) have ruled out any benefit of the practice.

Terming it as a wastage of money, especially when the crop is ready for harvesting, they have advised the farmers not to spend money on fungicides.

The agriculture experts of the university conducted a survey in the recent past and found that the yellow rust had invaded the wheat crop severely, which was almost ready for harvesting. To remove the rust, farmers had been continuously using fungicides.

“These days wheat crop is undergoing from ‘post-milking stage’ and is ready to harvest, so there is no need to spray any fungicide on the crop. At this moment, spending on fungicides would mean wastage of money,” said Dr Mahender Singh, an agriculture expert of SKUAST.

He added, “The university authorities have been conducting seminars in 
the villages to spread awareness among the farmers on how to tackle with the diseases, especially the yellow rust, spreading among the crops.”

He further said crops in the entire region, including Kathua, RS Pura, Poonch, Rajouri, had been affected with this disease and the yield would be far less than the previous years.

Dr SK Singh, a wheat specialist of SKUAST, said, “The disease can cause nearly 50 per cent loss to the production. In extreme situation, the rust can cause 100 per cent loss too.” He further said the disease could be removed at an earlier stage by avoiding the irrigation at the time of its appearance in the field.

He added, “Earlier the spray of fungicides was helpful to remove the rust. But at this stage, use of spray can’t stop the disease to show its impact. This is airborne disease and if one farmer has sprayed the fungicide in his field and others have not sprayed it, saving the crop from the infection becomes difficult.”

In most villages of the RS Pura area, it was found that the roots of wheat crop were badly affected with the yellow rust.

Jammu, March 30
Notwithstanding claims of the government to take effective steps for neglected sections of society, most of the schemes meant for them have failed to take off in the state due to various reasons.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its latest report, has stated that the Contributory Society Security Scheme (CSSS) for marginal workers has largely failed in the state.

The scheme was launched with a great fanfare but the ground work was not done. The survey was not properly conducted to identify the deserving persons

In the last financial year, the Social Welfare Department was allotted a fund of Rs 80 lakh for this scheme and a target was fixed. Shockingly, 94 per cent of the target hasn’t been reached yet.

The CAG report pointed out that the extremely low percentage of achievement indicates dismal performance of the scheme in the state. “Projections have not been based on any survey through which the actual number of beneficiaries could be benefited. As a result, there have been huge unspent balances, at the close of the each year,” the report pointed out.

The District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs) attributed the poor utilisation of funds to non-conducting of enrollment, incomplete submission of application forms and non-contribution of matching share by the beneficiaries. The report mentioned that it was also seen that there was nothing on record to show that Jammu and Kashmir Bank has evolved any scheme for the payment of pension as envisaged. It was pointed out in the report that the Social Welfare Department had not conducted any exercise to identify the defaulting beneficiaries who had stopped contribution.

The state government had introduced this scheme in 2004-05 for the marginal workers in the age group between 20 and 50 years. The workers are to be covered by providing them social security of Rs 100 per month for a period of 10 years, provided income of the beneficiary from all sources does not exceed Rs 30,000 per annum.

The matching contribution is also required to be paid by the beneficiary and both contributions are to be deposited in the bank for a period of 10 years during which no withdrawal is allowed except in case of death of the beneficiary. After 10 years the beneficiary has an option to either withdraw the amount or opt for a pension scheme to be evolved by the bank.

Srinagar, March 30
Strokes of brush and various shades of colours were used by students to express their concerns about the conservation of natural resources, particularly water bodies, on the eve of the World Water Day observed recently.

Through their imagination and creativity, students not only portrayed issues and problems but also suggested measures to minimise causes. Some of the artworks displayed during a programme organised by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) Himalaya with support of Welthungerhilfe during the World Water Day at Government Boys High School, Ushkara, Baramulla, touched upon burning issue of climate change impacts on water and geo-hydrological disasters.

Apart from a drawing and painting competition, students during the occasion spoke about deforestation and degradation of the catchment areas, drying up or much reduced flow of water in streams and rivers, pollution of water due to dumping of garbage, polythene, dead animals, release of untreated sewage directly into water bodies and dirtying of sources from where drinking water is collected.

“The day is of special significance for Jammu and Kashmir and all mountain regions as they are endowed with water towers. There has been significant impact of climate change on glaciers, local temperature and rainfall pattern and in turn on agriculture, horticulture and food security,” said Dr Abdhesh Gangwar, regional director, CEE North and Northeast.

Over 150 students accompanied by 15 teachers participated in the programme.

A report by the WHO observes that four billion cases of diarrhea are reported each year in addition to several other cases of illness due to a lack of access to clean water. It added that waterborne diseases cause death of more than 1.5 million children each year, millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant and often polluted sources. Poor people living in slums often pay 5-10 times more per litre of water than wealthy people living in the same city.

The United Nations General Assembly in 1993 declared March 22 as World Water Day. Every year, 1,500 cubic km of wastewater is produced globally. “While waste and wastewater can be reused productively for energy and irrigation, it usually isn’t done. In developing countries, 80 per cent of all waste is discharged untreated because of lack of regulations and resources. Increasing population and industrial growth are adding new sources of pollution and increased demand on clean water,” said Dr Abdhesh.

He observed that human and environmental health, drinking and agricultural water supplies for present and future were at stake, still water pollution was rarely mentioned as a pressing issue. “An estimated 1.1 billion people rely on unsafe drinking water sources”.

Dr Abdhesh said to raise issue of water quality at political level so that water quality considerations were made alongside those of water quantity, the theme for this years’ World Water Day, “clean water for healthy world” was chosen.

Considering problems related to water and to draw world attention to sort them out, the United Nations has proclaimed 2005-2015 as an international decade of “action for water for life”.

Lakhanpur, March 30
If you ever happen to pass through Lakhanpur, popularly known as the “gateway of the border state”, be ready for a bumpy ride. Traffic jams, bouncy tracks and potholes greet visitors in this town.

About one lakh vehicles enter and leave the state everyday from this gateway that has the biggest toll post, which is managed by the Excise and Sales Department.

However, as four out of eight lanes at this toll post are not in good condition for vehicular traffic, they have been closed down. This has added to the volume of traffic on the remaining lanes, resulting into frequent chaotic and daily traffic jams in the town. The trucks, carrying essential commodities, remain stranded in the town for hours.

Despite the repeated claims of the authorities that the Lakhanpur toll post would be modernised, no distinct work of any kind has been taken up so far. The Jammu-Pathankote national highway which passes through the town, also gives a shabby look. A number of potholes on it are further posing a serious threat, especially to those who ride two-wheelers and try to negotiate during night hours.

“Every day, about five to six fatal accidents take place in the town. Despite bringing the matter to the notice of the department concerned, the repair work on this dilapidated road has not been taken up,” asserted a local traffic police official.

Nitin Kumar, a resident said the pollution level in the town was alarming, as thousands of vehicles passing through the toll post and emitting toxic gasses, are hardly being checked by law enforcing agencies.

Incidentally, the local police and officials of the Excise Department appear to be at “draggers drawn” against each other and do not enjoy a good working relations.

Recently, on March 2, about 70 excise and sales tax employees strongly protested against the alleged interference by the local police in their daily work. This led to blockade of the highway for over five hours.

Trouble had erupted when the police impounded a truck and seized over four quintals of poppy straw from it. The vehicle was moving to Punjab from Srinagar. The employees of the Excise Department, however, objected to the police action on the pretext that it was a “direct interference”. A similar kind of incident had also occurred on February 27.

“Now the situation is that the police does not normally come forward in maintaining the flow of traffic in the town, particularly at the toll post,” remarked Purshotam, a shopkeeper.

A senior police officer, however, maintained that the incident of March 2 was a result of a communication gap. Following the intervention at the highest level, the matter has since been resolved,” the officer claimed.

He, however, admitted that it was suffocating to be mute spectators to the daily traffic jams on this ill-maintained highway.

Srinagar, March 30
The colleges across the valley are donning a green look as 10,000 students plant saplings. Similarly, more than 1,000 saplings are expected to be planted on the campus of University of Kashmir, during a week-long plantation drive initiated by the varsity.

The saplings include ornamental as well as timber-natured trees, including magnolia soulangiana (Japanese magnolia), pine, cedrus deodara (deodar tree), cryptomeria japonica, magnolia grandiflora and a variety of other species.

While inaugurating the plantation drive recently on the campus, Vice-Chancellor Prof Riyaz Punjabi said, “It is our responsibility to promote such drives so that we can maintain greenery in Kashmir for which this place is known the world over.

Expressing concern over deteriorating water quality in springs and lakes in the valley, Prof Punjabi pointed, “Kashmir used to have rains and greenery in March, but now climate here is changing.

He urged the civil society, the government and other institutions to work in close coordination to create awareness about the importance of planting trees. He planted 20 different saplings on the occasion. The drive has been organised by varsity’s National Service Scheme (NSS) and Landscape Development Division in collaboration with Rahim Greens.

“The drive will send out a message that university is a place that harnesses greenery. It is for the first time that a Vice-Chancellor has taken up the challenge of converting Naseem Bagh into a heritage park,” said Prof S Fayyaz, Registrar, University of Kashmir.

“If one person plants a small tree, it can go a long way in making up to some extent what has been lost in the past few years,” said Zareef A Zareef, a noted poet and social activist.