Leh, August 27
For the past 12 days, Chring Norboo along with his wife and two children has been living in a small tent erected on the terrace of a shop as his house has been washed away in the flash flood that hit Saboo village in the Leh region on the night of August 5.

The space to erect the tent has been provided to him by one of his neighbours.

“They lost whatever they had to the flash flood and it was only a few broken utensils they could retrieve from the debris of their house”” said Tse Parsun (75), a relative of Norboo.

The family is now worried over the coming winter season as they say that they won’t be able to survive the harsh winters in the tented accommodation.

“The temperature drops to minus 30 degree centigrade in winters and the season is only a month away. We want to have a house rebuild so that we don’t have to spend winter months in this tent,” said Norboo.

Norboo is worried about his two children, a four-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. “I am worried about my children. If the government fails to help us in time, I don’t know what would happen to my children in winter,” said Norboo.

Norboo says in the name of the relief from the government, he has so far received only a tent.

Norboo is not the only one who is worried about the winter season, everybody like him who lost their houses to the flash flood and are now forced to live in the tented accommodations are a worried lot.

There are around 167 families living in 58 tented accommodations in Himank village. The majority of them belong to the worst affected Choglamasar village, all of them are worried as they won’t be able to survive in the tents for long.

“Whenever wind blows, it uproots the tent and we have no option but to sleep under the open sky. We want the government to immediately start construction work for our houses so that we don’t have to spend the harsh winter in these tents where we all would die,” said Tundup Tsewng, who looks after relief distribution in Himank village.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his recent visit to Leh promised the people that the government would help them reconstruct their houses in a period of less then three months.

“The Prime Minister has assured us that we would be shifted to our new houses before the onset of winter and we hope that he would keep his promise,” said Tsewng.

Leh, August 27
Large-scale destruction caused by flash flood in the region brought members of different communities together for carrying out relief, rescue and rehabilitation work.

Though the large chunk of the population in the region consists of Buddhists, there is a remarkable size of Muslim population. Besides, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs have also settled in the region.

“The flood did not ask for religion, it destroyed everything that came its way. So all communities have joined hands to help the flood-affected people of Ladakh, irrespective of their religion,” Din Khan, coordinator of the Anjuman Moin ul Islam of Leh.

He said though a very less number of Muslim families were affected with the flash flood, members of the community have come forward and donated generously to help the majority Buddhist community in the hour of need.

“We all are Ladakhis first, and then Buddhists, Muslims or Hindus. So it is better that people work together for the betterment of all,” Khan said.

In 1989, the region witnessed worst form of communal clashes between the two communities, but people here have left it in the past and started their lives afresh.

“What happened in 1989 is no longer of any relevance. Time has taught all communities to live together,” said Nissar Ahmed, a resident of Leh.

Members of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, who have started working in the flood-ravaged areas, say after the disaster they found many unclaimed bodies of Muslims and the same were buried as per the Islamic rituals.

“We also found many unclaimed bodies of Buddhists. While we cremated those belonging to the Buddha community, we buried the bodies of Muslims as per their rituals,” said Rinchen Namgyal, general secretary of the association’s youth wing. Namgyal said the district administration did not provide them any sort of help to perform the last rites of the people who died in the catastrophe.

“The administration did not even provide us any firewood to cremate the dead,” Namgyal said.

In Saboo village, which is one of the worst affected village by the flash flood, there are two Christian families who say that they would have died if the majority community would not have come forward for their help.

“We established community kitchens to help the flood affected people and everyone who was affected got benefited,” said Rinchin Namgyal, a former sarpanch of Saboo village.

Jammu, August 27
To overcome any natural calamity, Jammuites have always remained at the forefront whether within the state or outside. And especially when the whole country is contributing its bit to restore Leh, Jammuites are donating food, money and clothes for these victims in a large number.

Here are a few people belonging to the Roads and Building Construction Contractors’ Association who, after joining hands with nine other associations and NGOs, have collected large material for resurrection of Leh.

These men have not only collected nearly Rs 2.5 lakh after spending 18 days, they have also made 575 mini-kitchen kits to provide them to the victims.

Describing the items included in the kit, Balwinder Singh, president of the Association, said: “Each kit costs us Rs 425 and nearly 10 items have been included in each kit”.

He further said when everyone was donating used or new clothes to the victims, they called up the Leh deputy commissioner to ask what sort of help the victims need there?.

Balwinder added: “The DC told us to provide grocery items as there is an acute shortage of grocery products in Leh. So, we decided to prepare a kit in which we have included all basic items, including milk powder, tea, salt, refined oil, noodles, milk rusk, grams, pepper, turmeric and nutria”.

He further said they have already sent one container of wheat flour and clothes to Leh after engaging some labourers.

“One big room, which we hired for the storage of relief material, is almost occupied,” said Balwinder, adding that he, along with one more companion, would be leaving for Leh on August 30 to handover the relief material to the Leh district administration.

He said other associations who came in their support were Sawera, Green Alternative, Aasra, Sangharsh, Arohi Sangeet, Helpage, Giant International, Vichar Kranti Manch International and Panchkarma Herbal Research.

It is pertinent to mention here that all these people set up tents in various markets of the city to collect relief material for charity purpose.

Leh, August 27
After suffering heavy losses as almost 80 per cent of the standing crop in Saboo village was washed away in the flash floods, residents of this and other villages are worried for their future as their livelihood, which is farming, has suffered a major setback.

People in these villages have taken an uphill task to restore the irrigation system to save whatever crop has been left.

“As the livelihood of the majority of the villagers depends on farming, we have decided to restore the irrigation system and dig canals to save whatever crop has been left in the village,” said Tsering Morup, former lambardar of Saboo village.

The entire irrigation system and canals that used to supply water to the fields in the village were either washed away in the floods or have been blocked by the slush and boulders that accompanied the gushing water of the floods.

“On an estimate, 80 per cent of the standing crops in the village has been washed away. Entire fields have been buried under slush and boulders. We have taken an uphill task to restore the irrigation system so as to save whatever crop has been left in the fields,” said Tsering Nurboo, lambardar of Saboo village.

A majority of the farmers in the village used to grow wheat, barley, vegetables and potato, which they used to sell to the Army and earn livelihood for the winter season.

“Our potato and vegetable crop was famous and we used to earn good money by selling it to the Army here. But now everything has been damaged and we are leaving no stone unturned to save whatever is left so that we don’t have to starve during the winters,” said Tashi Phunchok, a resident of the village.

The state government has promised monetary help that would be required for cleaning and restoration of the irrigation system in the village. But people here have decided not to wait for the government’s help and started the work themselves.

“We have asked the authorities to pay us for the work later on and they have agreed to it,” said Nurboo.

Similar is the situation in other villages in the region where people have started restoration work of the irrigation system on their own.

“The crop is dying due to scarcity of water. It is our only source of income, so we have to do something to restore the system and irrigate our fields,” said Tundup Namgyal, a resident of Basgo village.

Leh, August 27
To overcome the fear of cloudburst in the district, people are turning to religion and performing special prayers at monasteries and mosques.

“Riyozangchot” prayer was performed by Rinpoches, head lamas of different sects of Buddhism, at cloudburst sites to clean the pollution caused in the eco-system. At various monasteries, prayers like “Solka” and “Serkyem” were also performed by monks to the protectors of their respective monasteries to seek forgiveness of all wrong deeds that hurt gods and goddess.

People believe that cloudburst, which resulted in loss of human life and property, is the effect of ecological pollution and unhealthy development that is not harmonious with the nature and religion. Mantras of Tara goddess are also being chanted in various monasteries for avoiding the recurrence of cloudburst and other natural disasters.

Tsering Dolma, a resident of Housing Colony, said, “A large number of people attended the mantra chanting session of Tara goddess by Urgian Rinpochey at the locality”.

Gelong Chinba, a member of All Ladakh Gonpa Association, said, “Prayers to Tara goddess to free people from fear and prayer of Guru Padmasambhave for avoidance of natural disasters have been performed in various monasteries. These prayers were performed on the request of the association”.

Muslims are also performing “aamal” (a special prayer) at their respective mosques.

Prayers of “Zangchot”, “Changmon”, “Mentokpa” and “Chetjung” (special prayers performed by Buddhist monks in the memory of those dead) were also organised at the sites of cloudbursts and in various monasteries in Ladakh.

Srinagar, August 27
Drug abuse is emerging as a glaring problem in the Kashmir valley as youth are found addicted to various forms of drugs. Unemployment and conflict are among the reasons for drug addiction here.

“Various substances like morphine, brown-sugar, corex, synthetic narcotics, charas, ganja, analgesics and volatile solvents (polish, computer ink, perfume etc) are consumed by addicts,” says Dr. Syed Shabir heading a de-addiction centre here.

Sharing that unemployment, depression, anxiety, household disputes, bad company and failure in love affair are some of the major reasons leading to drug addiction, he said that drug addicts generally belonged to the 18-38 age-group .

Dr Ghulam Nabi Wani, founder of the Hindustan National Social Society (HNSS) de-addiction and rehabilitation centre, considers the failure of the authorities concerned to prevent accessibility to prescription drugs as well as the high anxiety level among people because of political instability as the main reason for prescription drug addiction.

“It is easy to get medicines from a chemist shop in the Kashmir valley as no prescription is needed. One can get drugs of choice easily from a medical shop,” says Dr Wani.

He added women were more sensitive being the most harried lot in a situation Kashmir has been going through over the past two decades. “In order to get out of mental block they visit medical shops in vicinity where chemist prescribes medicines to them that give them temporary relief and they get used to it”.

Wani explained that matters got worse with the death of close family members as a result of armed conflict. According to him, this forces certain individuals to look for a solution to their mental anguish. “Restlessness and loss of sleep that resulted from such stressful conditions drive some individuals to self-medicate with sedatives or anti-depressants,”he adds.

“Most of the time, drug addicts are drug peddlers as well. If they are left without counselling they can be dangerous for society. De-addicted people turn out to be good volunteers”, observes Dr. Shabir, adding that better counselling can play a pivotal role in treating addicts but proper follow-ups have to be there.

Dr Wani felt that 50 per cent synthetic drug-addiction would be curbed once a drug policy was framed. He suggests a zone between Kargil and Ladakh as a suitable place for setting up of a de-addiction centre. “There is a zone where magnetic power is the most. Owing to less pollution and better magnetic waves, self-confidence can be developed among drug addiction at such a place. It can have a better effect on their minds,” says Dr Wani.

Jammu, August 27
While his onetime classmates were attending to their class lectures, Rakesh Kumar, a school dropout, was desperately crying for life under the weight of huge marble slabs. For 15 minutes, this child labourer kept wrenching in acute pain before some passersby rescued him.

Rakesh, son of Tej Ram and resident of Bakhar village in Sunder Bani, is one among several poverty-stricken children engaged in the vicious circle of child labour who despite numerous schemes aimed at attracting children to school, remain away from education.

Had he not left school, he would have been preparing for class X board examinations this year. But due to poverty, he left school three years ago and started working as a labourer.

On August 18, Rakesh was unloading marble slabs from a load career when he accidentally came under a slab and got his right leg broken besides sustaining other injuries.

“I kept crying for help but the fellow labourers fled from the spot. After 15 minutes, some people came to my rescue and pulled me out from under the slab,” said Rakesh fighting a lump in his throat at the orthopedics ward of Government Medical College and 
Hospital, Jammu. “After a day’s work I get Rs 150. This is for the first time that I came across such an accident,” he added.

“We do not have much land to cultivate. For the survival of the family, his father has to work as a labourer at construction site,” said mother of Rakesh who is attending to him at the hospital.

In the incident, his right leg got broken. His father, who has been collecting money for the treatment, said: “Doctors have asked us to arrange Rs 10,000 for the surgery as there is a need for replacing discs in the fractured leg”.

Rakesh said he has two brothers who have also stopped going to school. He is the eldest of the siblings, whereas one of his brothers is psychologically disturbed and needs special care.

“We have been providing all medicines and other aid available in the hospital to the patient. It will take a fortnight’s time or even more to operate his leg,” said a doctor attending to Rakesh, adding, “Due to heavy patient load in the department, we operate only 5-7 patients on a daily basis. Preference is given to emergency patients”.

Jammu, August 27
After launching the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the state to spread education in most backward and neglected areas, the state government has launched another flagship education scheme of the Central government named as the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

Although the aim of the scheme, launched all over the country is the universalisation of education, the target of the scheme in the state is to rope in maximum number of Schedules Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) girls to increase the literacy rate in this section of society.

Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Education Minister of the state, has already directed the concerned authorities to identity all those SC and ST girls who have left education in midway due to financial problem so that they would be helped to continue their education under the scheme.

The SSA is meant for elementary education, while the aim of the RMSA is to re-enrol the left-out student between class IX and class XII. Under the scheme, model schools and hostels are being established in educationally backward areas of the state. The scheme will cater to the education needs of students studying between class IX and class XII.

The expenditure on this account will be borne by the Central government. Under the scheme, students belonging to the educationally backward areas will be provided scholarships, besides free education.

In the last finance year, an amount worth Rs 2.20 crore was released as grant-in-aid towards preparatory activities for the implementation of the scheme. In the current financial, the Central government has so far released adequate funds for the scheme. Although the scheme has been implemented in all 22 districts of the state, the government would emphasis on the backward areas for its implementation.

While reviewing the progress of the scheme, Peerzada said the scheme envisaged strengthening of physical facilities, staff and supplies as per prescribed standards for all schools through financial support and appropriate regulatory mechanism. He said it also aimed at improving access to secondary schooling by providing a secondary school within five km and a higher secondary school within seven km.

The Minister said under the scheme, every child, irrespective of gender, socio-economic background, was ensured secondary education of satisfactory quality, besides rising of secondary education to ensure intellectual, social and cultural learning.

The Minister asked the implementing authorities to complete pre-project activities for the implementation of the scheme in an effective manner.

He said the scheme has an effective range of components for improving and universalisation of secondary education. He has also issued directions to all functionaries to implement the scheme in letter and spirit by way of constituting committee involving prominent citizens, villagers and members from the Parents Association whose children are studying, besides teachers of calibre and of good integrity are also to be included as the members of such committee.