Jammu, January 18
Even as the state government has enhanced the ration quota for different areas, inhabitants of several rural areas, have been facing problems due to short supply. Though all districts of Jammu region have been facing the problem, situation is grim in hilly districts like Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar.

Contrary to the claims of the authorities regarding streamlining the supply of ration in the rural areas, people have to wait for days together to get it from government-run depots. The situation is no better in the urban areas. Earlier, residents of the urban areas preferred to purchase grocery from the market because the difference in prices was not much. But after a spurt in the prices of essential commodities during the recent past, residents of the urban areas have also started buying subsidised ration from CAPD depots.

As the authorities are facing hardships in ensuring regular supply of ration in CAPD depots, opposition parties have decided to rake up the issue in the days to come to strengthen their base in new areas.

Meanwhile, keeping in view the pressure mounted by the opposition parties, the government has enhanced the ration quota for Jammu district. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department held recently under the chairmanship of Minister for CAPD and Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhoon said providing basic amenities to the people was a priority. He stressed upon the officers for initiating efforts for a fair distribution of food grains. He asked them to keep a check on dealers, through whom ration is being supplied, and ensure that people get ration as per the fixed scales. He also directed for the maintenance of counter foil by dealers to check pilferage and irregularities.

The minister also enjoined upon the officers for keeping a close contact with the public. He enquired about the position of supply of food grains and called for mass awareness about the enhanced ration. He also directed the deputy directors of the CAPD to activate their field staff for monitoring the ration supply so that the people did not face any difficulty on this account.

The minister also directed for the issuance of temporary ration cards to nomads and people living in the hilly areas of Kishtwar and Rajouri districts, who are presently getting ration against lists.

Jammu, January 18
Rekindling hopes among the families having mentally challenged patients, the state may have its first-ever rehabilitation centre in the winter capital here.

“A 100-bed hospital for the mentally challenged patients is fast coming up in the vicinity of Government Chest Diseases Hospital here and by September or by the end of this year, we will get the possession of the new complex thereby paving way for the much-needed rehabilitation centre,” sources in the Health Ministry told The Tribune.

“Once we get the possession of the new building, where postgraduation course in psychiatry will also be started, we have plans to convert the existing Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital at Ambphalla into a rehabilitation centre,” they added.

“Discussions are on with the government at the right quarters and if everything falls in place, then the state will soon have its first-ever rehab centre for such patients, which will ensure proper care and medication to these patients,” said the sources.

Under the proposed plan, doctors from the Health Department will manage the affairs once the centre comes up at the existing Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital at Ambphalla.

Going by the rising number of mentally challenged patients, the rehab centre is the need of the hour and the existing hospital at Ambphalla would be ideally suited for such patients, the sources said.

In the absence of a rehab centre, several patients, who continue to fight against varied forms of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, and their families find it difficult to look after their kith and kin who fall prey to such disorders.

Authorities at the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital refuse to accept mentally challenged patients without their attendants because in the past people had admitted such patients and never returned.

“I know that staying with mentally challenged patients is not an easy job and a time comes when some patients need a rehab centre where they can be looked after and given proper medication,” said a senior psychiatrist.

“But, paradoxically the state where militancy and other stressful events have rapidly added to the number of such patients, we have no such facility,” he added.

“Being the sole bread earner of my family, I find it difficult to spare sufficient time for my mentally challenged brother. If such a rehab centre comes up here, it will not only ensure proper care and medication to my brother, but also help several other families having such patients,” said a banker.

“My brother was taken ill to a mental disorder 15 years ago and I tried my best taking him to top psychiatrists and neurologists, but he never recovered. Now, he refuses to take his medicines,” he said.

“So, a rehab centre within the city has altogether become indispensable for people like me who can strike a balance between their profession and family visiting their kith and kin at weekends to spend sometime with them and see them recovering from mental disorders under the supervision of experts,” he added.

Srinagar, January 18
As a long-term measure to connect all inaccessible areas of the state by all-weather roads, feasibility studies for the construction of tunnels would be undertaken during the next couple of years. Presently, feasibility study for Zojila pass on the vital Srinagar-Leh Highway is underway.

This was stated by Brig TPS Rawat, chief engineer of Beacon, while talking to mediapersons here recently to give the details of the snow-clearing operations on the roads following the recent snowfall in Kashmir.

He said feasibility studies for Razdan and Sadhna passes were in an advanced stage of finalisation, while that for Pharkiyan and Z Gali were also under planning. Razdhan pass connects the Gurez area with the rest of the Kashmir Valley in Bandipore district, while Sadhna pass connects the Karnah area with Kupwara district headquarters in North Kashmir.

Brig Rawat also emphasised the preparedness of his organisation to undertake the challenges and also steady increase in the capability by way of modernisation of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

After the first spell on December 30, more snowfall was expected and the Beacon project of the BRO fully geared up with detailed planning by moving snow-clearing machines to key locations and coordinating with the civil administration and the traffic police.

Brig Rawat said heavy snowfall on Friday last cut-off the Valley from the rest of the country. The prestigious Jawahar Tunnel area on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway recorded over 2ft of snow and the Srinagar Airport witnessed 1.5ft of snow. Such heavy snowfall was unprecedented since many years.

A number of trees got uprooted and blocked the movement of vehicles. Thousands of passengers and vehicles were stranded in Anantnag, Banihal, Ramban and Patnitop due to the closure of Jawahar Tunnel.

Project Beacon swung into action and their snow-clearance operation and removal of uprooted trees started at midnight in the freezing cold, Brig Rawat said. The state-of-the-art machines like imported snow cutters, snow sweepers and JCBs were pressed into action, along with the Border Roads troops.

The Srinagar International Airport, which was temporarily rendered inoperable due to the thick snow, was cleared by the Beacon personnel in a record time of about six hours, four hours ahead of the standard time for such heavy snowfall, Rawat maintained.

This enabled all scheduled flights to land and take off on Saturday only. Stranded air passengers witnessed the swift action by the Beacon personnel from the lounge and thanked them for helping them take their flights same day. One-way traffic in Jawahar Tunnel was restored at 2 pm and 549 vehicles, including 370 light vehicles, had crossed the Tunnel on Saturday itself, the chief engineer said.

Giving further details, Brig Rawat said on Sunday and Monday, light-vehicular traffic towards Srinagar was restored and more than 1,700 vehicles moved from Jammu to Srinagar.

Srinagar-Baramullah-Uri, Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri and Baramullah-Handwara roads were also cleared for two-way traffic by 1 pm on Saturday.

Brig TPS Rawat informed about the preparedness of Beacon to undertake any task and appreciated the dedication of his men who have worked all day and night to achieve the restoration of road and air traffic in record time.

“Work is on to clear the heavy and hardened snow on Razdan, Z-Gali and Sadhna pass and if there is no fresh snowfall, they will be thrown open to traffic by Tuesday,” he said.

He also praised the state government and the local administration for providing full cooperation in the activities of Beacon. He also appealed the public to follow traffic rules so that smooth flow of traffic could be ensured.

Bangalore, January 18
The state government hopes that the tourist inflow would touch the 10 lakh mark this year, up from nearly 7.36 lakh in 2010.

Speaking during a roadshow to promote the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions as tourist destinations at a travel fair, J&K Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin said nearly 7.36 lakh tourists, excluding Amarnath yatris, visited Kashmir last year.

However, tourist arrivals were abruptly interrupted mid-year with the wide media coverage on stone-pelting incidents, which created fear among the tourist population, he said. "Tourists have now started coming back to Kashmir and we hope the figure will touch the million mark," he said.

Terming as not true the perception that Kashmir is not safe, he said sporadic incidents had occurred in places that were not the usual tourist destinations.

"The usual tourist spots are safe. Last year 23,000 foreigners, mainly those from South East Asia visited Kashmir. Tourism is the cutting edge of Jammu and Kashmir economy," he said while citing reasons to revive tourism in the region. Thousands of people were dependent on tourism.

The government was trying to build infrastructure and other facilities to boost tourism. There were plans to promote the golf circuit - including the Royal Springs Golf Course, Gulmarg and Pahalgam golf courses-- to woo tourists and encourage tourist attractions like heliskiing, a winter sport.

New tourist destinations like Gurez, Loleb were also being promoted. There were plans to add more destinations to the tourist map of the region, he said.

There were also plans to spread out tourists to various areas to ensure a balanced dispersal of revenue generation.

He said the authorities concerned had assured full security and facilities to film units to complete shooting and also promoting a one-stop solution for film crew to facilitate shooting.

About the Sabarimala stampede in Kerala, he said those in charge of managing pilgrims visiting the shrine could perhaps study the practice followed to regulate devotees coming to Vaishno Devi, "perhaps one of the most smoothly managed shrine. Every aspect of yatra management has to be taken care of, your infrastructure has to be taken of, security has to be taken of, the way the yatra is conducted has to be taken of."

About the revival of interest by film units in the region, he said: "Bollywood has been coming back to Kashmir. Last year we had three units in Gulmarg. These are not big budget ones, but small ones. Big directors and producers, they are still scared... but the adventurous ones were coming".

On measures to promote film shooting, he said the biggest concern was security, which was being provided. "A one-stop solution is being adopted to grant all required permissions to shoot. Whatever logistic support is required is given."

He said there was keen interest in wooing tourists from Karnataka. The IT sector had displayed interest in the region. According to a hotel owner, an estimated 20000 IT employees had visited the region in the past three months. — PTI

Jammu, January 18
Various displaced Kashmiri Pandit organisations will observe January 19 as ‘holocaust day’ jointly and hold a demonstration to highlight the plight of the displaced community living in exile for the past two decades.

Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president of a faction of Panun Kashmir, has appealed to the members of the community to join the demonstration in large numbers.

HL. Chatta, general secretary, All-State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC), said the demonstration would be held near Raj Bhawan on ‘holocaust day’ to highlight various issues of the community.

“We will highlight the issues like the Prime Minister’s Employment package which has benefited only those displaced Kashmiri migrants who either belong to the backward areas of the Valley or to the upper class whereas displaced Kashmiri Pandit migrants living in migrant camps had not got any such benefit from this package so far.”

“At the same time, the condition imposed in the employment package is a violation of human rights and we will fight against this”, Chatta said.

‘Holocaust day’ is being observed by the Kashmiri Pandit organisations every year to highlight the forced exodus of the minority Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley in 1990. According to these organisations, the killing of around 1,000 community members in less than three months had made the entire minority community to flee their 5000-year-old abode.

They asserted that the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits had disproved the secular credentials of Kashmir and the tall claims of secular accommodation and tolerance of Kashmir were brushed aside by the majority community itself in denying the minority Pandits any space within the Valley.

Sangam, January 18
The success of Indian Premier League (IPL), where the franchise owners splashed millions of dollars to acquire their favourite players this weekend, is having a positive effect on the cricket bat manufacturing industry in Kashmir as well.

As the IPL bandwagon spread to two more cities, Pune and Kochi, in the fourth edition, the manufacturers are hopeful that the league's expansion will translate into more orders for cricket bats this winter.

The cricket bat sector in the Kashmir Valley has more than 200 units, both registered and unregistered, with a collective turnover of over Rs 10 crore per year.

"The IPL has been a huge bonanza for our sector as the number of bats sold since the inception of the league has gone up. We are expecting more orders from cities like Pune and Kochi this year as these cities will also be featuring in the IPL-4," said Abdul Majeed Dar, president of the Cricket Bat Manufacturers' Association.

Dar said over the past three years, the bat manufacturers had expanded their dealings directly to cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

"Cricket is undoubtedly the number one sport followed in every city and town of India, but our business dealings were mostly restricted to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and to some extent Bangalore. Now, we have enquiries from other areas like Baroda and Indore as well," he said.

Feroze Ahmad, who has a bat-manufacturing unit in this highway town, 40 km from Srinagar, said although the first three months of the year were generally low on sales as students across the country were busy with annual examinations, but the IPL had changed that.

"Since the IPL is held in the months of March, April and May, dealers from across the country place advance orders so that they can cash in on the popularity of cricket following the conclusion of the event, which coincides with school holidays," Ahmad said.

While things look rosy for the bat-manufacturing units, which provide direct and indirect employment to nearly 15,000 people in the Valley, they have many worries to take care of. The smuggling of clefts, the raw material for bats, and the dwindling plantation of willow trees are just two of these.

"Thousands of clefts are illegally smuggled to some cities in neighbouring Punjab even after the state government imposed a ban on the practice. This has caused a major dent in our earnings as the processing units have better seasoning facilities at their disposal in Punjab which results in a better product," Dar said.

He said the state government had installed a seasoning unit in the Sangam area where most of the units were located, but it had not been made functional yet.

The mushrooming of ply-board peeling units in the Valley has also led to a decline in the growing of willow trees, considered best after English willow.

"Poplars grow faster and bring better returns to the farmers from the peeling units. The farmers are now focusing on growing poplars only," Dar said.

With the demand for bats rising every year and the supply of raw material dropping sharply, the cricket bats were going to be expensive in coming years, he added. — PTI

Jammu, January 18
To destress policemen, DGP Kuldeep Khoda has announced to organise a series of cultural events for their entertainment across the state. The decision has been taken keeping in view the tough duty schedule of the force, a senior police officer said.

“The state police will organise a series of cultural events for the entertainment of its personnel and their families to ease their stress level caused due to hectic routine,” said the DGP J&K Kuldeep Khoda, while addressing a police function.

One such event was organised at the Police Headquarters here recently, in which Abhay Rustam Sopori presented a scintillating santoor duet recital accompanied by Ustad Rafiuddin Sabri on tabla at the Police Auditorium here.

The functions would be organised under the name of SaMaPa Aalap Festival 2011, sponsored by the Sopori Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

Khoda said besides performing their duties in maintaining law and order, the policemen had also been taken active part in sports and had achieved many distinctions in this field. These steps had yielded good results and in 2010, the players had proved their mettle in different disciplines, he added.

He further said the force had tackled a grave situation in 2010 successfully after maintaining maximum possible restraint. “The sensitive situation was handled with patience, although the forces had to face many provocative situations, resulting in injuries to many of our personnel,” added Khoda.

During 2010, Rs 13 crore was given under various schemes to the families of martyrs, serving and retired personnel and SPOs.