Bhaderwah, June 16
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad today laid the foundation stone of the 42-km-long Bhaderwah- Chamba road which had been hanging fire for the past three years. This will facilitate connectivity between this part of the state and Himachal Pradesh for the promotion of tourism.

Later, inaugurating the annual Bhaderwah Tourism-cum-Cultural Festival at the local Government Higher Secondary School, Azad said the construction of the road was part of a long- term plan to promote Bhaderwah as a potential tourism destination. He expressed the hope that the residents would benefit economically as this was an important component of a blueprint drawn four years ago to develop the tourism potential of Bhaderwah.

Approved three years ago during Azad’s tenure as the Chief Minister, the Rs 73- crore project to be completed with central assistance was held up even after the passing of tenders due to legal hitches.

“Now, I call upon the minister concerned as well as all layers of officials of the Public Works Department to work in a manner that the construction of the road is completed over the next two years”, he said.

Azad drew a big applause from the gathering in his hometown when he elaborated the long-term plan to boost tourism in the erstwhile Doda district of which Bhaderwah is an important part. He said the plan envisaged connectivity between Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, Bhaderwah, Doda, Kishtwar and Kashmir. “This will will facilitate Bhaderwah becoming a hub of tourism, thereby improving the economy of this town as well as the entire area around it”, he added.

Meanwhile, in deference to a public demand put forward by local MLA Mohammad Sharif Niaz, state’s Minister for Tourism Nawang Ringzin Zora announced to make the Bhaderwah Tourism-cum-Cultural Festival a week- long affair from the next year. He said efforts would be made to institutionalise the festival which was started in 2007 when Azad was the Chief Minister. As part of this, the event under way would be held for four days instead of two. He added that from the next year, it would be held from June 15.

Jammu, June 16
Major landslides occurred at four places on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Ramban this afternoon, blocking it for nearly four hours.

The landslides occurred around 1 pm at Seri, Digdol, Penthal and near Ramban town following incessant rain, sources said.

They said a few houses atop the hill were damaged as they developed cracks. Some tourists travelling on the highway had a narrow escape even as no loss of life had been reported.

Panic gripped the area as this was the first instance of landslides of this magnitude this season. The downpour caused huge damage, but the district police got the area vacated and after using heavy road-clearing machinery cleared the highway around 5 pm.

Scores of trees were uprooted due to the landslides and tonnes of debris and big boulders damaged the road.

SSP, Ramban, Mubassir Latifi said, “All arrangements were made to avoid any untoward incident. The highway was opened for traffic in the evening.”

He further said light vehicles were immediately allowed to move on the road, while heavy vehicles were allowed after some time.

A passenger, Bilal Ahmed, told The Tribune over the phone from Ramban after crossing Penthal that it was raining heavily on the highway and this caused the trouble. He said a big queue of vehicles was witnessed on the highway. The administration had already announced this stretch of road as a landslide-prone area.

Srinagar, June 16
The Employment Facilitating Agency (EFA) at its first meeting here yesterday held detailed discussions to popularise the new employment scheme, ‘Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth’, and guide the youth about its benefits.

The meeting was told that the purpose of the recently established agency was to synergise employment opportunities available in various sectors of the economy.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather and attended among others by Minister for Higher Education, Labour and Employment Abdul Gani Malik, an official spokesman said.

The EFA has been tasked to oversee the functioning of employment-related organisations and monitor the progress of employment programmes, besides identifying and creating employment opportunities in the service sector. The agency will have to tie up with financial institutions for raising credit, identifying the skill deficit and skill surplus areas for transfer and upgrading.

The meeting decided that the Employment Department would function as the nodal agency for monitoring the progress of the employment-related schemes. It was also decided that the Technical Education Department shall firm up its plan for skill development in consonance with the central government’s plan for skill development. About five million young men and women shall be trained by 2022, who would be provided jobs, it was informed.

It was decided in the meeting that various departments would formulate proposals for employment generation in their respective sectors of the economy and place them before the EFA in its next meeting.

It was also decided that the service providers in various sectors would be identified for providing service to government departments for various jobs. The service providers shall be registered with the Technical Education Department and appropriate instructions issued to various departments to utilise the services of such service providers.

The meeting observed that the flow of credit for employment ventures needed to be regulated as per the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India. The cooperation of the banks shall be sought in this behalf by the EFA.

Jammu, June 16
Repeated statements of leaders of the ruling coalition notwithstanding, differences between the National Conference (NC) and the Congress have been widening with every passing day as both parties have been trying to strengthen their base in each other’s citadels.

During the last fortnight Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz along with Congress ministers had addressed a number of meetings in the areas considered strongholds of the NC.

Sources said the NC leadership took a serious note of the efforts of the Congress leaders to strengthen the party base in their areas. The NC leadership had reportedly registered its resentment against the decision of the Congress not to invite sitting MLA Aijaz Jan to the Gujjar rally held at Poonch on Monday.

The Gujjar conference was organised by the newly appointed vice-chairman of the Gujjar Bakerwal Advisory Board Choudhary Bashir Naz. Union minister Prithiviraj Chavan was the chief guest and the PCC chief was the guest of honour at the rally.

Congress sources told The Tribune that NC leaders wanted their MLA from Poonch Aijaz Jan to be invited to the conference, as he is the elected representative from the area. The Congress leadership had outrightly refused to do so.

During the last Assembly elections, Jan had defeated Choudhary Bashir Naz in the Poonch-Havaili Assembly segment. The Congress has been working overtime to strengthen its base in the area that is considered the NC citadel. Naz was appointed vice-chairman of the Gujjar Bakerwal Advisory Board only to strengthen the Congress base among the Schedule Tribes (ST) community in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

The sources said the Congress had made it clear to the NC that it would take every step to strengthen its base in all areas. The Congress also decided to organise a rally at Nagrota on June 20. This area is another NC stronghold in the Jammu region where the Congress has planned a rally. In the last three successive Assembly elections, the Congress could not perform well in this constituency and NC candidates were runners- up in Nagrota in the last two Assembly elections.

The sources said the NC leadership was already annoyed with the Congress for inducting Manjit Singh into the party. Manjit Singh, a former minister and PDP leader, was inducted into the Congress in February despite stiff opposition from the NC leadership. Manjit Singh is an arch rival of NC minister Surjeet Singh Slathia, as both contest the Assembly election from the Vijaypur segment.

Jammu, June 16
Two months after their dream of constructing a new house was shattered due to a devastating fire in which they lost almost everything, save the clothes they were wearing, all they have got as relief from the administration is three canvas fabric tents. These are now the refuge of a family of 12 in this searing summer.

April 11 was the doomsday for the family of Shanni Devi, widow of Munshi Ram, based in Kharak village, about 15 km from the Kalakote tehsil headquarters in Rajouri district when a fire sparked off by an electric short-circuit led to large-scale devastation, as it was fanned by ammunition kept in the house (one of the family members happens to be a volunteer of the village defence committee) that went off blasting an LPG cylinder. Subsequently, the house turned into a huge bin of cinders and ash. Luckily, no one was killed or injured.

All five rooms of the kutcha house reportedly went up in flames in no time as the dry ceiling of the house was made of resinous pine wood.

“Jewellery and Rs 2.5 lakh were kept in a safe near 100 rounds of 303 rifle. As the fire broke out, the intensely heated rounds started imploding. Meanwhile, a stray round hit the LPG cylinder causing a powerful explosion that left three rooms completely damaged,” said Bishamber, a government teacher and only breadwinner of the affected family.

“The money was withdrawn from bank for the construction of a new house. We had put some material on the premises and were to start work for the new house ,” he said. He added, “The gun of my brother, who is a VDC volunteer, was also gutted. The damaged weapon has been handed over to the police.”

“The fire burnt down the entire harvested crop, four TV sets, two refrigerators, a washing machine, and virtually everything. Even during functions at home we had never borrowed even a spoon from neighbours. This incident has left us with nothing….we are ruined,” he said with a lump in the throat. “My mother is ageing and ailing. Besides, I am having chronic bronchial allergy and I have to spend a large chunk of salary on medicines,” he said.

A team of revenue officials headed by the local revenue assistant (patwari) visited the family to assess the loss after three days of the incident, but since then there has been no official information so far. Another blow to them, the family said, was that despite the sympathy of local MLA Rachhpal Singh and MLC Ashok Sharma, who hails from the village, three canvas fabric tents were all they had got as relief.

Srinagar, June 16
A team of technical experts from the National Institute of Rock Mechanics (NIRM) today began a five-day survey to identify the critical stretches prone to landslides and shooting stones on the track from Katra to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

The team, which reached Katra last evening, would carry out field traverse mapping along the existing track. It would also undertake the detailed engineering geological investigation of the area and suggest suitable measures for the mitigation of the landslides and shooting stones on the track by way of strengthening the hilly slopes and other technical interventions.

The study had been undertaken to strengthen the hilly track from Katra to the holy cave shrine, particularly to address the serious problem of landslides and shooting stones at certain spots during the rainy season, an official spokesman said. The Governor and Chairman of the shrine board, NN Vohra, had asked the Chief Executive Officer of the board, RK Goyal, to contact the NIRM, Union Ministry of Mines, Bangalore, for undertaking a study and advising a pragmatic action plan to deal with the serious problem of shooting stones that had been causing serious injuries and even fatalities to pilgrims.

The shrine board has been continuously striving to provide all possible facilities to the yatris to make the pilgrimage comfortable, safe and a pleasurable experience. Thus possibilities are being explored for strengthening the hilly slopes to secure the track against landslides and falling stones.

Giving these details, Goyal said the NIRM study was being commissioned on the directions of the Governor, who in the course of a recent visit to the holy shrine stressed the urgent need for the scientific treatment of the vulnerable portions of the track.

Srinagar, June 16
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has underlined the maintenance of eco-balance and protection of the environment for progress and prosperity of the state and said the future was subservient to safeguarding the natural wealth.

The Chief Minister, who is on a tour of Ladakh, today reviewed the progress of various tourism-related projects in the region at Leh and held that environment pollution and climate change had brought to the fore the significance of eco-tourism.

Pointing out that tourism in the state was predominantly dependent on natural beauty, the Chief minister said everyone had a role to play in the stupendous task of conservation of forests, water bodies, wetlands, highland pastures and meadows. He also highlighted the role of the youth in creating awareness among people.

The Chief Minister said the maintenance of this kind of environment necessitated focused attention on development and growth of eco-tourism in the state. “This will help us achieve twin objectives of preserving the natural beauty and attracting tourists from across the world”, he said.

Omar said he had directed the Tourism Department and Development authorities to make eco-tourism the benchmark of infrastructure development in tourist areas. “The haphazard constructions in tourist places mar the beauty and tell upon the ecological balance. We have to be cautious enough and fully vigilant while developing the tourist infrastructure. Every care has to be taken to safeguard the environment and ecology of the tourist places”, he stressed.

Jammu, June 16
To develop the road network in the state, the Army today inaugurated the Bardal bridge on the Jammu-Akhnoor-Bhamla road here.

While inaugurating the bridge, Lt-General BS Jamwal, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, GOC-in-C Northern Command, said: “The construction of the bridge was started in January 2009 and it has been completed within 16 months, which is two months ahead of the schedule.”

Poddar Construction Company, New Delhi, had constructed the bridge at a cost of Rs 3.24 crore.

“Six more bridges are also under construction in the area,” a spokesperson for the Army said.