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Leh residents battle odds in search of loved ones
Bodies of 11 Leh workers airlifted to Udhampur
Ladakhi students in financial crisis
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Gurdwara Pathar Sahib damaged
Ladakh House abuzz with prayers
Providential escape for Leh
youths
Rescue Operations
Chavan reviews relief
works
Panthers Party to attendall-party meeting tomorrow
Need to isolate mischief makers, stresses
ex-DGP
Sadhotra asks people to back Omar
Power supply restored in Dulhasti project
No excess amount recovery after retirement: HC
Curfew lifted in Valley
Incessant rain damaging Abhinav Theatre’s structure
Heavy rain lashes city
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Leh residents battle odds in search of loved ones
Srinagar, August 8 Residents are wading through knee-deep mud and silt to extricate those trapped inside the houses. At certain places, the height of the mounds of silt and slush burying houses made of mud is almost 15 feet. Hizar Norboo,a resident of Choglamsar village in Leh, along with some of his friends has started clearing the mud from his collapsed house. He said four of his family members were still missing. “Four of my family members are missing after my house collapsed following the flash floods in our locality. As help has not reached us so far, we ourselves began clearing the debris in the hope that they (family members) might have survived the catastrophe,” he told The Tribune over the telephone. The authorities, too, have launched a massive rescue operation in the area after it received heavy machinery from the Army and the Air Force. “Bodies are lying in the open as several families have been wiped out and no one is left to claim them. We fear the worst as with every passing hour the hope of the survival of missing people is also fading,” a senior police officer said. So far,145 persons have been confirmed dead whereas around 400 others are seriously injured and more than 500 missing. At least five foreigners have also died in the cloudburst; they were caught in the cloudburst when they had gone for trekking. “They had gone for trekking and their bodies are still lying on the trekking route outside Leh and efforts were on to retrieve the bodies,” SP,Leh, Bhim Sen Tuti said. Residents said the situation in the hospital was pathetic as the main building had collapsed and the treatment of patients was going on in a makeshift hospital where the number of staff and equipment was inadequate to carry out surgeries and treatment of the injured. “The missing count is decreasing as some people, who had escaped to safer areas, are returning,” a Defence spokesman told The Tribune |
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Bodies of 11 Leh workers airlifted to Udhampur
Jammu, August 8 He reached Udhampur in a special helicopter of the Army which also brought 11 bodies from Leh. Eight of the dead belonged to Doda- Kishtwar districts, one to Samba, while one each to Punjab and Rajasthan. “We were engaged in road-digging. In Ladakh, all construction activity such as laying of cables and installing hoardings takes place in summer and we make some money. On the intervening night of August 5 and 6, we were sleeping in our room when the land shook and it seemed there was an earthquake”, said Bhushan. He said before he realised what was happening a strong wave of water washed him away. “I found myself several metres away from our room. In the morning, I discovered that the room had been swept away. Of the seven labourers sleeping there, only three,including me, survived. Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Bashir Ahmed Khan said the administration had arranged vehicles for taking the bodies to their native villages. The victims had been identified as Beeru Ram (Ganganagar in Rajasthan), Rakesh Kohli (Pathankot), Roshan Lal (Samba), Pradeep Singh, Pritam Singh (both from Jodhopur village in Doda), Sham Lal (Gundoh village), Imran Ahmad and Ishaq Ahmed (Jigot village), Md Haneef and Javed Ahmed (Hanch village) and Gulam Nabi (Kishtwar).
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Ladakhi students in financial crisis
Jammu, August 8 A group of Ladakhi students, who belong to Kelibuk, Narchumg and Choglamsar villages of Thiksay area of Ladakh, said it had now become difficult for them to continue their studies and to meet their daily requirements in faraway regions, as they have to pay for their rents also. They said the flash floods in Ladakh might have destroyed agricultural lands and live stocks, which were the only source of income for their families. Many students who were due to receive money from parents could not get it due to the snapping of all means of communication between Leh and Jammu. Stanzin Amgmo, a student of Class XI, said, “I was due to receive money in the first week of this month but the flash floods have destroyed our property. Now my parents will not be able to send me money.” Under such circumstances, these students have demanded financial help from the government till the time they are able to get support from their parents. They also demanded restoration of ATM services in Leh.
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Gurdwara Pathar Sahib damaged
Leh, August 8 Officials are all praise for the jawans, some of whom were Sikhs. They worked in the dead of the night to restore some sense to the building. The slush has been fully drained out and langar will start at the gurdwara in a few days, which is a favourite among troops moving on the Leh-Kargil route. The Pathar Sahib Gurdwara became part of Ladakh’s culture and religion in 1516. Legend has it that many centuries ago, a demon had terrorised the people of Leh. Guru Nanak Dev, who visited the region around 1516, came to know about the problem and decided to bless them with his sermons. Locals welcomed him with open arms. His growing popularity angered the demon and in a fit of rage, he decided to kill Guru Nanak with a large boulder (pathar). The boulder, however, turned into wax as soon as it touched the Guru. Thinking that the boulder must have killed the Sikh Guru, the demon appeared only to be shocked to find him meditating. He pushed the boulder with his right foot, but as it had already melted into wax, his foot got embedded in it. Lamas also revere this boulder.
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Ladakh House abuzz with prayers
Jammu, August 8 Most students from the cloudburst-hit areas in Leh and Choglumsar have not been able to contact their families since the tragedy has struck the region. Braving heavy rain today, the students converged at Ladakh House and lit diyas and aromatic sticks for the peace of departed souls and prayed for the well-being of those who went missing. They also appealed to the government to establish satellite phone counters in the affected areas in order to know the well-being of their families. “I have not spoken to my family members in Choglumsar. There are hundreds of students from Leh and all are worried about their families,” said Gurmet Domkhar, a student pursuing postgraduation in Sociology at Jammu University. Tsering Tundup, a lecturer of Geography at MAM College, said: “Our worries have further compounded as we don’t know anything about the quantum of loss suffered by our people. The administration has not reached out to us for help.” President of the All-Ladakh Students’ Association, Tsering Norphal said: “We congregated here as the students are worried so we decided to stay together in crisis.”
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Providential escape for Leh
youths
Jammu, August 8 Tsewang had done most of his studies in Jammu. He said he had just gone to sleep after his meditation course at the community hall in Sabu where the Ladakh Vipasana Trust had organised a camp. At least,10 people, including some foreigners, were in the community hall when they woke up to the sound of "unleashed river" and saw sudden flooding of the area. “The flash flood washed away seven houses, killing 13 persons.Several others are missing. There is total chaos and it is not possible to assess the losses,” said Gailtsen. |
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Rescue Operations
Srinagar, August 8 Special arrangements to airlift their bodies from Leh to Srinagar were made today personally by the Director-General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda. The bodies were received at PCR here by the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Public Distribution and Transport, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Zone), Farooq Ahmed and other senior police officers. On the occasion, the contingents of J&K Armed jawans presented Shaukh Shaster and reversal of arms. Later, the bodies were sent to their native place. Among others, present on the occasion were Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Rauf-ul-Hassan and JP Singh, Commandant, IRP 4th Battalion.
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Chavan reviews relief
works
Srinagar, August 8 Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, chief executive councillor Chering Dorje, MP Hassan Khan, Kashmir IGP, Leh Deputy Commissioner T Angchuk, senior officers of the Army, Air force, police and paramilitary forces were present. The CEC said the communication system; road connectivity, irrigation, power and drinking water supply had been affected in all flood-hit areas. He sought adequate funds for early restoration of the irrigation system to save the remaining crops in the flood-hit areas besides restoring link roads. Dorje requested the Union Minister to get the DPR under Flood Management Programme (FMP) approved by the Centre, which he said had been submitted for approval. The CEC also demanded more tents, diesel generator set of 3-5 MW capacity and additional funds to tackle the situation arising out of the cloudburst. The DC gave a detailed account of the loss of the infrastructure, including that of power receiving station, and lift irrigation scheme. He said 60,000-quintal rice was stocked in FCI, Leh, at present and 10,000-quintal flour was required to meet
the requirements. Chavan assured to pursue all demands with the Centre. He said he would approach the Civil Aviation Ministry for operating more flights to Leh for airlifting the stranded tourists
and others in Leh. Meanwhile, the Army today said 29 columns continue to be deployed for rescue and relief operations in Leh. As many as 95 villagers, belonging to Hanoyogma near Handen Brooke, whose houses have been washed away, are being provided food and shelter by the nearby Army post. Defence spokesman Lt. Col. JS Brar said the search for missing soldiers in the Nubra Valley was still
continuing. He said the Army today distributed over 5,000 blankets, 3,000 tarpaulins and 1,000 mattresses to the needy. Border Roads and Army engineers were also trying to repair the bridges at Basgo, Nimmu, Phyang and Budhkharbu on the Kargil road. Meanwhile, a list of 76 foreign tourists stranded at Pang and seven foreign tourists at Darchiks was being forwarded to the authorities concerned. About 90 tourists were also believed to be stranded at Lamayaru.
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Panthers Party to attendall-party meeting tomorrow
Jammu, August 8 The decision was taken during the meeting of the working committee of the Panthers Party that was held under the chairmanship of party president Harshdev Singh. Baldev Singh Mankotia handled the proceedings. The committee decided to attend the meeting on August 10 and to project the party’s viewpoint on issues pertaining to the solution of the problem. The Panthers Party and the Opposition group, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had boycotted the all-party meeting last month as both parties had termed Abdullah as the failed Chief Minister who had lost faith of the people. Mankotia told the TNS that the party had decided to attend the meeting to put forth important issues pertaining to the solution of the problem. He said the party would highlight the issues pertaining to the Jammu region. “Our stand is based on the Delhi Declaration - 2008 of the Panthers Party in which the party had demanded an amendment in the Article 370 and decentralisation of power at the fundamental level,” he said. He reiterated that the party would take up the issue of delimitation and justice with the people of the Jammu region. Mankotia stoutly defended the party’s decision to boycott the last meeting convened by Abdullah in July. He said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had taken the initiative and the Panthers Party would take part in the meeting. “We will expose misdeeds of the present coalition government before the Centre,” he added. Meanwhile, the working committee of the Panthers Party appreciated its Kashmir unit for mustering courage to organise a rally, led by party chairman Bhim Singh, at Lal Chowk in Srinagar with national flags in hands on July 27. The committee also expressed shock over the massive loss of life and property in Leh due to cloudburst and paid homage to those killed in the calamity.
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Need to isolate mischief makers, stresses
ex-DGP
Jammu, August 8 Khajuria said the governments in Delhi and Srinagar must take necessary measures to effectively deal with the situation. There was a need to review the political and strategic formulations to break the vicious cycle of violence and isolate the mischief mongers, he added. Prof Hari Om, a political writer, said: “In fact, it is an Indian state that is sustaining the on-going strife in the Valley.” He said the statement by Home Minister P Chidambaram in the Rajya Sabha on Friday read: “The statement was nothing but a blend of contradictions and that instead of assuring the House of Elders that New Delhi will change its strategy in the changed circumstances to controvert the pernicious influence of Pakistan and defeat its evil designs on Kashmir; Chidambaram had raised the issues of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and reduction of security personnel in the state.” Dr Ajay Chrungoo, chairman of Panun Kashmir, said: “It is time for the nation to recognise the extremely regressive content of the movement that is holding the Valley in its grip.” “It is time that the nation de-legitimises the public mobilisations in the Valley by emphatically stating that the strife is basically driven by an ideological content that negates the freedom of mankind, breeds hatred and aims to destroying pluralism based on the right to equality,” he added.
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Sadhotra asks people to back Omar
Jammu, August 8 Talking to mediapersons here this afternoon, Sadhotra said some vested interests had been desperately trying to create a divide among different sections of the society to accomplish their nefarious designs. He appealed to the people to be vigilant and support Omar at this juncture when the government had been fighting a proxy war waged from across the border. Sadhotra expressed sympathy with the kin of those killed by stones or firing in the Valley. He appealed to the people, especially the youth, to remain calm. The NC leader also appealed to the separatists and other groups to respond positively to the talks offer by the Centre in order to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem. Sadhotra, while pointing towards the loss of property in the Jammu region due to flash floods, asked the government to get the losses of houses, crops, live stocks, human life, if any, assessed by sending a team on war footing.
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Power supply restored in Dulhasti project
Jammu, August 8 The power generation to the project was stopped on Friday night after huge quantity of silt entered the turbines. Although there has been a provision of de-silting but the quantity was so huge this time that generation was immediately stopped. “After 24 hours of repair, the generation has been restored in the Dulhasti hydroelectric project,” Rajiv Hastu, general manager of the National Hydroelectric Project Corporation (NHPC) told the Tribune.
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No excess amount recovery after retirement: HC
Jammu, August 8 “When the department has made the fixation wrongly, it cannot reduce the pay by holding that the pay fixation was wrongly done and that too at the fag-end of the service of an employee. The respondents have to fix the pension of the petitioner on the basis of salary last drawn by him and have to calculate the pensionary benefits accordingly” ruled the court. Mahkoli Ram was initially engaged as an operator on July 19, 1980, and was promoted technician-III on April 1, 1998. At the time of superannuation, his pay-scale was Rs 5000/-8000/- (pre-revised) and Rs. 9300/ - 34, 800/- (revised). After his retirement, a communication dated March 31 was issued indicating that one step higher pay scale granted in his favour was in contravention of Rule 17-13 (1) of the J&K Financial Code and accordingly recovery of excess amount paid to him was ordered. |
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Curfew lifted in Valley
Srinagar, August 8 Long queues could be seen in banks and outside ATMs to collect cash for the coming days as the fresh calendar of protest has been declared by the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference. People came out in large numbers for shopping. “ For days, we haven’t seen fresh vegetables. I am out to purchase items of daily need for the coming days as the strikes would continue from tomorrow ,” said Muzaffar Shah, a local resident. Daily wage earners, too, came out to earn their livelihood. “After being confined to house for the past two months, today I came out to earn something. Everything in my house has already been exhausted,” said Khursheed Ahmed, an autorickshaw driver. It was on July 27 that the separatists had given relaxation in the ongoing strike but it saw clashes between stone throwers and the police, resulting to the death of three youths following which the authorities clamped curfew in the entire Valley as the protests soon spread to other parts. Though hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani himself had appealed for peace in the Kashmir Valley, yet he made it clear that ‘peaceful protests’ would continue, even though he rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer of talks with all parties. People are bracing themselves for the upcoming protests and today they got a chance to buy items of daily needs for themselves.
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Incessant rain damaging Abhinav Theatre’s structure
Jammu, August 8 The rainwater has been dripping in the hall for over one week but no official from the local administration had looked into the situation so far. Cultural activists said the rainwater had caused extensive damage to the infrastructure of the complex. Sources said the cultural functions were being held at the adjoining KL Sehgal Hall for more than 10 days. When the Tribune team visited the theatre, the mats and chairs were submerged in water. It was still drizzling in the hall; a small billboard was placed over the wooden floor that, however, seemed to be a futile attempt. Also, the curtains and the sound-proof walls were soaked in water. Due to this quagmire in the hall, a function, “Meet the Eminent Contemporary” scheduled in the honour of noted writer and Padma Shri awardee Dr Jatinder Udhampuri had to be shifted to KL Sehgal Hall, which has comparatively lesser seats. “It is an anti-Jammu and anti-Dogra approach of the establishment. This is not the first time that the roof is leaking. The structure and infrastructure of the theatre has been perishing but the government is least bothered,” said Dogri writer Mohan Singh demanding that measures must be initiated at the earliest. Additional secretary of the academy Dr Savita Bakshi said: “We have already mooted a proposal for its renovation but have not received any response from the government hitherto.”
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Heavy rain lashes city
Jammu, August 8 The roads and lanes had acquired the shape of rivulets at many places, thus hampering smooth flow of traffic and movement of pedestrians. The other affected areas were Channi Himmat, Vikram Chowk, Satwari, Gangyal, Mera Sahib, Shakti Nagar and Bakshi Nagar. Besides filth and garbage, the rainwater also washed away sand stones placed on the roads due to the ongoing excavation work being carried out by various construction agencies in the city to lay sewerage pipes. At many places, the drains and irrigation canals were overflowing due to blockage because of garbage and filth. Flash flood alert sounded
Jammu, August 8 People were told not to venture out near the rivers that were in spate, they said. Residents living near the rivers had been evacuated to safer places, the officials said adding over 250 houses in eight villages had been damaged by recent floods, triggered by torrential rains, in the division. Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand today visited the flood-hit areas and assessed the damage. He interacted with people hit by the flood fury and directed the authorities to provide 35-kg free ration to each family. — PTI |
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Even as the death toll in the Leh cloudburst and flash floods continues to mount, people are still searching for their loved ones in the hope that they might have survived nature’s fury in
Ladakh.
Mudslides in Ladakh have caused an intense damage to the historic Pathar Sahib Gurdwara, located around 25 km from here. The sanctum sanctorum was under four feet slush.
The Panun Kashmir (PK), led by Ajay Chrungoo, today held a seminar on “Making Sense of What is Happening in Kashmir”. According to a statement issued here, former DGP MM Khajuria said the “Quit Jammu and Kashmir” call given by Tehrik-e-Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani amidst the ongoing disturbance in Kashmir exposed the political dimension of the conspiracy hatched by Pakistan establishment and its local collaborators.
Saluting people of the Jammu region for maintaining communal harmony despite provocation by some vested interests, spokesman of the National Conference (NC) Ajay Sadhotra said the State was passing through a crucial phase and it was high time to strengthen hands of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
