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Omar visits Leh, 2 crore ex gratia announced
Massive rescue operations launched
President, Governor express grief
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PDP not to attend all-party
meeting with PM
Curfew, protests continue in Valley
Speed up rescue operations: Doda MLA
Missing Kishtwar girls found from Jammu madrasa
Ladakh students in Jammu
worried about families
Pilgrims stranded as landslide blocks
Reasi-Shiv Khori road
Restore communication, road network in Leh, govt urged
Chenab crosses danger mark
Army truck falls into Chenab, 3 feared dead
Jammu MC set to tackle floods
Gear up to have own homeland in Valley, Kashmiri Pandits told
Harsh questions Omar’s stand
on political package
Army supply depot workers stage dharna
Bus stand presents a grim picture
Compensation for cloudburst-hit sought
One killed in encounter
with militants
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Omar visits Leh, 2 crore ex gratia announced
Srinagar, August 6 The Chief Minister also reviewed the measures for rescue and relief operations being carried out by the Army, police and the district administration. He later chaired a meeting of the distict administration in which Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora was present. Earlier, Omar convened a meeting of Group of Ministers in Srinagar to monitor and review the situation in the Ladakh region in the wake of a cloudburst today. Expressing deep sorrow and grief over the loss of human lives and property, the meeting directed the administration to intensify relief and rescue operations in the region and shift the affected people to safer locations and government buildings on a war footing. The district administration, Leh, was directed to provide immediate relief, including essential commodities and medicines, to the affected people and undertake a preliminary assessment of the losses urgently. The meeting approved Rs 2 crore as ex gratia to the next of kin of those killed and as relief to those injured in the cloudburst. The ex gratia would be paid at the rate of Rs 1 lakh to each. Besides, Rs 1 lakh each would be paid to the next of kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The meeting also decided the release of Rs 3 crore for the temporary restoration of public property and services in Leh district. Briefing the meeting, Chief Secretary SS Kapur said he was in touch with the National Disaster Management Authority, New Delhi, which has kept its men and material ready to be airlifted as soon as the Leh airport becomes operational. Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din briefed the meeting about the flood situation in the rest of the state. The GoM decided to place Rs 2 crore each out of the Calamity Relief Fund at the disposal of the Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu to provide immediate relief and undertake restoration work in the affected areas of the state. JKPCC president Saifuddin Soz said the state administration had responded to the situation promptly and necessary relief was provided to those affected. Mufti Mohammad Sayed and PDP Chief Mehbooba also expressed condolence to the bereaved families.
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Massive rescue operations launched
Srinagar, August 6 An official spokesman said here the massive cloudburst in Leh town’s Choglumsar area the preceding night, resulted in rain, mudslides and flash floods in which a number of houses were completely destroyed. A defence spokesman said 25 Army jawans were reported missing. The Army troops activated their Disaster Management Cell and commenced rescue operations on a war-footing. The primary objective of the operations was to save the maximum possible people and property from further damage and evacuate stranded civilians from isolated areas. So far, several hundred persons had been rescued by the Army despite own losses. The rescue operations were being conducted in coordination with the civil administration, putting own safety at stake. More than 15 Army columns have been deployed for rescue purposes. The detachments of the formation located at various places on the highway, too, were activated to provide relief and shelter to stranded civilians and foreign tourists. All aid was extended to evacuate them to safer areas, using Army vehicles. DGP Kuldeep Khoda has ordered temporary rehabilitation of dislocated families in the District Police Lines (DPL), Leh. The DGP has also ordered to provide free food to the affected people. The police has organised a community langar in the DPL, Leh, for the affected families, where hundreds of people have partaken of food.
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President, Governor express grief
Srinagar, August 6 In a communication to Governor NN Vohra, Patil said she felt saddened to learn about the tragedy in which a number of people had lost their lives of which some were still missing. She conveyed her heart-felt condolences to the families of the deceased. The Governor also expressed grief over the deaths and loss of private and public property due to flash floods in Leh. He expressed condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. The Governor called upon the state administration to immediately restore the public services and the telecommunication system. Vohra also appreciated the promptitude with which the police and the security forces had come to the rescue of the flood-hit victims. |
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PDP not to attend all-party meeting with PM
New Delhi, August 6 The PDP had earlier boycotted the all-party meeting on Kashmir which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had called last month. Today, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti confirmed to The Tribune that her party would not be part of the delegation to the Prime Minister, and said the Centre and state were just kicking the ball between each other’s courts without addressing the issue. “The decision that all state party leaders will see the Prime Minister was taken at the all-party meeting conducted by the Chief Minister. We had boycotted that meeting. How can we be part of a decision taken at that meeting? We have been from day one asking the Prime Minister to step in as his intervention alone will be seen as credible by the people here. The state government has lost credibility,” Mehbooba told TNS. She appealed to the Prime Minister to take immediate initiatives to ease the Meanwhile, Congress sources today indicated that Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand was unlikely to attend the meeting with the Prime Minister. He had earlier not come to the meeting called by Omar. Considered close to Ghulam Nabi Azad and against the faction of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Chief Saifuddin Soz (who is close to Omar), Tara Chand, the sources said, would have met the Prime Minister with other state Congress MLAs, including the CLP leader who had come to Delhi a few days ago.
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Curfew, protests continue in Valley
Srinagar, August 6 One person was seriously injured in police firing as the latter had to open fire to quell demonstrators at Warpora near Sopore in Baramulla district of north Kashmir today. He was shifted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) where his condition was stated to be critical. Protests were also held at Bandipore, Pattan and Palhalan areas of north Kashmir resulting in clashes between the protesters and the police. However, there were no reports of injuries to anyone or clashes with the police from the Bandipore district headquarters. In central Kashmir, protests were held at various places, including Rajouri Kadal in downtown, Zainakote and at Hyderpora on the city outskirts. Till the last reports came in, the clashes were going on at Hyderpora, though the exact number of those injured in the clashes was not known. Thousands of protesters held demonstrations in the holy township of Chrar-e-Sharief in Budgam district. Agitated people defying curfew also held protests at various places in south Kashmir. Clashes were reported from the Anchidora locality of Anantnag town, which had witnessed the killing of three youths on June 29, further flaring up the situation. Other places, including Achabal, also witnessed protests.
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Speed up rescue operations: Doda MLA
Udhampur, August 6 Unfortunately, many labourers from Doda district who were in Leh to earn their living are among those dead and seriously hurt. Nine bodies of labourers from the Hanch, Jodhpur and Gundna areas of Doda district have been traced hitherto while whereabouts of hundreds are still unknown. According to a release issued here today, the labourers were feared dead and incapacitated. The administration should be put into action for relief and rescue operations. Army jawans and Indian Air Force Helicopters should be put into use for rescue operations as well as for air lifting the injured to hospitals in Srinagar, Jammu or Chandigarh. Wani also appealed to the Chief Minister to announce ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively, for the labourers of Doda district who were either killed or injured yesterday. Showing concern for the poor labourers and their families, Wani said the residents of Doda district were already facing many problems like draught, unemployment, forcing many to live in miserable conditions. To check the problem of migration of workforce from Doda to other regions, the public as well as the elected representatives repeatedly demanded proper industrial infrastructure. Absence of industrial infrastructure despite availability of raw material in abundance has resulted in almost nil industrial growth in the area.
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Missing Kishtwar girls found from Jammu madrasa
Udhampur, August 6 On July 20, Ali Mohammad Zarger of Sarthal, Kishtwar and Qasim Din of Tipri Pathshala, Kishtwar, filed a complaint to the police that their daughters, Shagupta Bano and Fatima Bano, had disappeared from Gulabgarh where they were pursuing their studies. Both were friends and were studying at different coaching centres in Kishtwar. As public pressure mounted, the police launched a massive search operation to trace them but to no avail. According to police authorities, there was absolutely no clue about the girls and even the family and friends could not provide any clue to this regard. Shocked, the public demanded their early recovery. Various delegations and groups even protested against the police several times at Kishtwar Police Station. Following a missing report lodged at the police station, all police stations and police posts of the district were immediately informed about the descriptive role of the girls. Even the SHOs of all police stations of Jammu and Kashmir were informed and were requested to launch search operations in their respective areas. Even their call details were worked out but to no avail. Their photographs were also widely publicised by the police. Kishtwar SP Dr Mohammad Haseeb Moughal said the girls were finally traced from a madrasa in the Bhathindi area of Jammu. The investigation revealed that they had gone to Jammu on their own for further studies at the madrasa without even consulting their parents. They further disclosed that there was noone’s role in taking them away from Kishtwar. Both said they were fond of travelling and ventured this trip to Jammu. They had already heard of the said madrasa in Jammu. Both told the madrasa’s management that they were poor and orphans and wanted to study there. “We have handed both girls to their parents in the presence of some prominent people of Kishtwar after conducting legal formalities. We are now investigating how they reached Jammu,” said Dr Mughal. Interestingly, a day before a delegation of the state unit of Janata Dal (United) submitted a memorandum to the state Governor through the Jammu Divisional Commissioner on the issue. It was alleged that both were held by the SHO of the police station, Aitholi, along with a boy on a flimsy charge.
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Ladakh students in Jammu
worried about families
Jammu, August 6 Worried about their family members living in Leh and adjoining areas, the helpless students have appealed to the authorities to restore the communication network as soon as possible. “We have been repeatedly appealing to students from Ladakh not to panic as we are trying our best to connect our families”, Tsering Norphel, president of the Ladakh Students Association, told The Tribune. “Since morning we have been trying to contact our families, but to no avail as the communication system has completely collapsed after the cloudburst followed by flash floods in the town”, Norphel said. “As every Ladakhi student living in Jammu is worried about his family, we have decided to connect all of them to unitely approach the authorities to get some information about their families and to keep in touch with each of them”, he said. On the other hand, over 150 passengers have been stranded at Jammu as the only fight to Leh was cancelled because the Leh airport has been extensively damaged. “The only flight to Leh has been cancelled due to the natural calamity there”, a senior officer of Jammu airport said, and added the departure of the flights in the next few days depended on the green signal from the airport authorities at Leh. Meanwhile, residents of Jammu responded to provide assistance to the affected families in Leh. After getting information about the tragedy that struck the town, an emergent meeting of various social, religious and political organisations was held at Jammu in which it was decided to constitute a Relief Committee to provide immediate relief to those affected.The committee has decided to approach big business houses and traders’ organisations to contribute in the relief which would be dispatched to Leh as soon as communication was restored. Political parties have also asked the state to provide relief to the affected families.The Pradesh Congress Committee at an emergent meeting expressed grief over the loss of lives and urged the government to provide relief and rehabilitation. |
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Pilgrims stranded as landslide blocks
Reasi-Shiv Khori road
Reasi, August 6 The landslide occurred in the wee hours today, however, no casualties were reported. “Though the road was opened for a while but it got blocked soon after, as a result of which 200-300 vehicles were stranded on both sides. The continuous rains since Thursday night had caused the landslide; work is on to clear the road,” said Arun Sharma, Pouni SHO. Due to the blockade, over 3,000 pilgrims have returned without paying obeisance at Shiv Khori temple. “We have been waiting for the road clearance for over seven hours. We do not have anything to eat and are helplessly waiting here. It is so frustrating as we cannot even return to Ransoo, Reasi or Jammu,” said Arteev Sharma, a pilgrim from New Delhi. Though work is on but the stranded pilgrims have no idea that how long it might take. They are expecting help from the administration concerned as no basic amenities are available. The Jammu-Rajouri Highway is a crucial link between Rajouri and Poonch districts. The highway was also blocked due to landslide at Kali-Dhar in Rajouri district. |
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Restore communication, road network in Leh, govt urged
Jammu, August 6 It has appealed to the state and Central governments to take effective steps for restoring communication and road connectivity with Leh, which is cut-off with the rest Tsering Norphal, president of the association, appealed to the Ladakh students studying in Jammu, Delhi, Chandigarh and other parts of the country not to panic and be together in the hour of crisis. “People in the affected areas are not economically sound so the relief and restoration work should be initiated at a war footing in the affected areas. There should be no delay in the disbursement of relief and compensation,” he added.
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Chenab crosses danger mark
Jammu, August 6 “The step has been taken as a precautionary measure as the water level of the Chenab has crossed the danger mark,” Chief Engineer, Flood Control, BR Dogra told The Tribune. He said the water level of the river had been rising due to continuous rain in the upper reaches as well as in the plains since last evening. “We don’t want to take a risk so this morning we decided to shift the residents of Ghar Saini village to a safer place,” he said. All villagers had been accommodated in school buildings and community halls and the authorities had been providing them with meals.
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Army truck falls into Chenab, 3 feared dead
Udhampur, August 6 As per SHO, Kistwar police station, Davender Singh all four jawans were from the road-opening party. They were patrolling the route when the truck plunged into the Chenab around 3 pm. The mishap occurred at Kulligarh near Darbshala, about 8 km from Kishtwar. Police and Army personnel reached the spot on receiving information. A search was launched immediately but there was no trace of the three jawans as well as the ill-fated truck. The jawan, who managed to jump out of the truck, was injured. The search was stopped till reports last came in as the river was in spate due to a heavy rain.
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Jammu MC set to tackle floods
Jammu, August 6 According to a statement issued here, the Enforcement Wing received the reports that following heavy rain, Shivalikpuram nullah started overflowing and the water was likely to enter the premises of houses in the locality. The Enforcement staff then demolished the walls and plinth from the edge of the
nullah, which were causing a hindrance in its flow, thereby endangering the lives and properties of those living in the vicinity. The residents hailed the timely action of the
JMC. — TNS |
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Gear up to have own homeland in Valley, Kashmiri Pandits told
Jammu, August 6 While addressing a public meeting, chief area co-ordinator of the Kashmira Vahini Sudesha Kaul endorsed the stand taken by Panun Kashmir for establishment of homeland with the Union Territory status for 7 lakh Kashmiri Pandits living in exile. She asked the women folk to be set for making supreme sacrifices for the cause. Kirti Kala, patron of the Kashmira Vahini, also appealed to support the cause. Meanwhile, national spokesperson Dr Kehma Koul said the Kashmira Vahini was concerned over the campaign of hate and exclusion practiced by separatist and “Jehadi” forces that had resulted in engendering the culture, religion etc.
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Harsh questions Omar’s stand
on political package
Jammu, August 6 Singh said here yesterday Omar needed to understand he was the Chief Minister of the entire state and not of a particular region. He said the Chief Minister needed to realise that the Jammu region had been clamouring and agitating for the last 60 years against its economic deprivation and neglect in the field of development and employment. He said people in the Jammu region had been continuously demanding a fair share in the economic development, and added that the region’s problem was essentially economic in nature. He further said the region was required to be compensated through an exclusive economic package to ensure its equitable development in terms of better road connectivity and better healthcare system, tourism promotion and development, improved power system and drinking water, developed educational and professional institutions besides provision of adequate avenues of employment. He also castigated Jammu-based ministers for the despicable apathy shown by them in ensuring a timely settlement of the Central University row, including the issue of appointment of the local Vice-Chancellor. Singh said he had repeatedly raised the matter, but nothing had been done so far.He pointed out that all other 15 Central Universities had become functional with their academic sessions having become operational,while Jammu Central University was still in doldrums. |
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Army supply depot workers stage dharna
Jammu, August 6 They are demanding regularisation whereas their working days have been reduced to 19 from 23. Most of the workers have been working for the past 25 years. At least, 150 workers engaged by the Army for loading and unloading goods at the railway station, Bari Brahamana, have been holding protests since August 2. “The matter is sub judice and the high court has written to the Ministry of Defence to regularise the workers”, maintained chief organiser, Centre of the Indian Trade Unions. “The protesting workers were not getting weekly offs, holidays or leave as prescribed under labour laws”, he said. “The decision of the Army to reduce the working days is contempt of court”, he said and alleged, “While the working days of these workers have been reduced, the Army has been engaging labour from outside”. He also demanded a high-level probe into the account of the depot and added the union would take up the issue with the Ministry of Defence for protecting the rights of workers. |
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Bus stand presents a grim picture
Jammu, August 6 Heavy rain has increased the miseries of passengers as well as shopkeepers at the bus stand. The passengers are facing difficulties in alighting from or boarding buses or taking an auto-rickshaw at the bus stand because of accumulated garbage. “The garbage has accumulated on the road in the bus stand and it has made it difficult for the passengers to board buses and alight from them,” said Manpreet Singh, a passenger from Punjab. “The garbage is inconveniencing commuters,” said Ramesh Tak, president of the Bus Stand Market. The road, which has developed potholes, hinders the smooth plying of the buses in the bus stand. The blocked drain has made the lives of the commuters and the shopkeepers at the bus stand difficult. “The drain emits a stink, which forces passengers to hold their breath till they leave the place,” said Madhu Sharma, another leader of the bus stand market. He added that the pitiable condition of the bus stand was giving a bad impression to the hundreds of tourists, who visited the temple city. Expressing disappointment over the condition of the bus stand, shopkeepers said during monsoon they suffered losses on account fewer customers and damage caused to their goods due to rainwater and drain water. Subash Kumar and Purshotam Sharma, both shopkeepers, said, “Due to continuous rain the overflowing drain water entered our shops and damaged goods yesterday.” Besides, the ceilings of a platform, under which long route passengers were taking rest, and ticket counters were leaking. While taking to The Tribune, Om Prakash, who is on duty on a ticket counter, said, “The whole of the counter is filled with rainwater. It has become difficult to sell tickets as the ceiling of the counter is leaking.”
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Compensation for cloudburst-hit sought
Jammu, August 6 The organisation expressed sympathies with the affected families and urged the union and state governments to provide adequate compensation to them. It also urged the government to lay emphasis on maintaining ecological balance in the state under a suitable policy. Meanwhile, MLC Ashok Kumar Sharma has expressed grief over the loss of life and property in Leh. He sympathised with the people of Leh and demanded that Rs 5 lakh in cash and government jobs be given to next kin of the deceased. He also sought Rs 1 lakh compensation for the injured in the natural calamity. He also urged the local administration to assess the damages caused to crops, agricultural land, houses and livestock.
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One killed in encounter
with militants
Jammu, August 6 Earlier in Rajouri, the police and the security forces destroyed a hideout of militants in the general forest area of Gambir Brahmna falling under the jurisdiction of police station Manjakote of Rajouri district early today. Recoveries made from the smashed hideout includes one AK-56 with one magazine and 13 cartridges. Reports revealed the state police carried out searches in the general forest area of Gambir Brahmna falling under the jurisdiction of police station, Manjakote. |
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Srinagar, August 6
Jammu, August 6
