Srinagar, July 6
Nine policemen were injured, four of them seriously, when suspected militants triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) near Sopore police station in Baramulla district this morning.

Minutes before the blast, the militants fired a rifle grenade at the police station, which, however, did not cause any damage or injury.

A police spokesman here said cordon-and-search operations were launched in the adjoining area immediately after the firing of the grenade. The militants then triggered the IED, injuring the policemen.

The injured policemen were identified as head constable Ghulam Nabi, constables Morifat Hussain,Farooq Ahmad, Abdul Rashid, Farooq Ahmad and Amit Kumar, and SPOs Mohammad Ramzan, Farooq Ahmad and Shakeel Ahmad.

Two injured constables and two SPOs were shifted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, Srinagar, and their condition was stated to be critical.

Meanwhile, Inspector Shabir Ahmad Bhat of the telecommunication wing of the police, who was injured in a militant attack in the Batamaloo area of Srinagar on June 29, succumbed to his injuries in the local SMHS hospital this morning.

Meanwhile, the Army foiled an infiltration bid near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district today by killing a militant and recovering a large quantity of explosives.

“An infiltration bid was foiled by alert security forces on the LoC in the Keran sector of Kupwara district. One militant was killed,” a defence spokesman said.

He said the ultras were trying to sneak into India with a huge quantity of explosives to target civilians and the security forces.

The recoveries included an AK-47 rifle, a pistol, two rocket-launchers, 54 UBGL grenades, 41 hand grenades and 10 kg of explosives, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, July 6
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today asked the state Revenue Department to expedite the disbursement of compensation to the people whose land was being acquired for the four-laning of the national highway from Lakhanpur to Srinagar.

The Chief Minister was taking stock of the progress of works at various places on the construction of the 400-km national highway from Lakhanpur to Srinagar as part of the north-south corridor.

Omar directed the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, to monitor the clearance of the payment to the people concerned so that the land was handed over to the National Highway Authority of India.

He also highlighted the importance of the project for the overall socio-economic development and progress of the state. He emphasised the need for joint efforts for its timely completion. “Keeping its significance in mind, the officers concerned at all levels should devote full attention to remove all bottlenecks to help the completion of the project in time,” he added.

The meeting, attended, among others, by Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla, was informed that two tunnels of 8.5 km and 9.2 km length, respectively, in the Qazigund-Ramban sector were ready to be constructed this month. It was also informed that 114 km of the road project from Lakhanpur to Jammu, including the 15-km Jammu bypass and the 17.80-km Srinagar bypass had been completed.

Six-eight minor bridges, 254 box culverts and eight major bridges had been completed so far as part of the project.He said two bridges at Ujj and Basanter were ready to be executed by the end o the month.

It was also stated at the meeting that the work for the 67.76-km Srinagar-Banihal stretch and the 15.25-km Qazigund-Banihal tunnels had been awarded and the financial closure of the latter was under process. Similarly, the work on the 65-km Uhampur-Jammu stretch had also been awarded.

The meeting discussed various issues relating to the construction of tunnels, land compensation, status of amounts deposited with the Revenue, Forest and Power departments.

Udhampur, July 6
A Ludhiana-based family had a harrowing time at tourist huts of the Bhadarwah Development Authority (BDA) at Bhadarwah in Doda district when some youths under the influence of liquor forcibly tried to occupy the family’s hut last night.

Cutting short its stay in Bhaderwah, the terrified family today left the Valley,which is being touted as the gateway to Kashmir to attract tourists from outside the state.

An auto-parts dealer,Charanjit Singh, told The Tribune that after returning home, his minor children vowed never to visit the state again.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, Chief Executive Officer, BDA, Kalyan Singh said such a thing had happened for the first time at the tourists huts at Gatha, near the Fish Pond, in a secluded area of Bhadarwah. “We called the police and six youths were arrested. The family was shifted to the Tourist Reception Centre. We are going to step up security to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,”he said, and admitted that the miscreants had made an unauthorised entry into the area.

Charanjit Singh said the incident took place around 10 p.m when the family was sitting outside the hut.” Some youths came there and claimed that the hut had been allotted to them. When I objected, some of them forcibly occupied chairs in the verandah and insisted on our vacating the hut.Being the only tourist family there,fear gripped us”,he said, and added that he immediately sought the help of BDA officials.

The officials reached the spot and beat up the youths, who had come in a Sumo and belonged to Thatri in Doda district. The police was called and six youths were arrested. They were bailed out today. The officials admitted that it was a serious security lapse which occurred during the change of guard at night.

Udhampur, July 6
The fourth edition of the National Heritage Trek Expedition, 2011, drew a huge response within and outside the state with 1137 trekkers participating in it.

The expedition concluded here yesterday with national chairman, Youth Hostels of Association of India (YHAI), Harish K. Saxena, and national president, YHAI, M.S. Pandit, jointly flagging off the last batch of 17 trekkers.

Nearly 1077 trekkers came from different parts of the state. Those who successfully completed the expedition included 55 national and three international trekkers. “Going by the enthusiastic response this time, we hope that the number of trekkers will increase significantly in the next editions,” said Saxena. The Directorate of Education, the Directorate of Tourism, Jammu, the district administration and the Patnitop Developmental Authority jointly organised it.

The organisers said that all the trekkers visited famous temples at Krimachi,which are protected heritage monuments. Experts from the Archaeological Survey of India educated the trekkers about the sites.The trekkers were also educated about the wildlife of the region, the creation and the behaviour of the earth through a show prepared by YHAI president MS Pandit.

The expedition was initially started in Kishtwar district about 35 years ago, but had to be discontinued due to militancy about 15 years ago. It was revived four years ago following the return of normalcy in Udhampur district. The event has since become popular among national and international trekkers and has brought Udhampur on the international map of adventure tourism destinations.

Pandit said the fifth edition would start from April 14 next year.

Udhampur, July 6
A district-level science exhibition got under way at Government Higher Secondary School (Boys) here today. The three-day exhibition is being organised by the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Kud (Udhampur), under the centrally-sponsored scheme, INSPIRE.

As many as 209 science models from different government educational institutions are on display. On the opening day, a panel of three judges, comprising Senior Scientist, Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu, Dr SC Taneja, District Coordinator, Science and Technology, Udhampur, Sanjay Kharoo and Associate Professor, Department of Botany, University of Jammu, Dr Yash Paul Sharma, examined the models and interacted with the students and the teachers to get detailed explanations about their exhibits.

The working models prepared by the meritorious students of different schools on the green house effect, conventional energy saving devices, photosynthesis, air pollution, windmill, biosphere, water cycle and the life cycle of a silkworm drew the attention of the visitors, including students, teachers and area residents.

Principal, DIET, OP Sharma said 209 meritorious students were selected from different government schools of the district and were given the INSPIRE reward of Rs 5,000 each for preparing the science projects on display here. The best five to 10 per cent entries from the district would be selected for participation in a state-level exhibition and five per cent entries from the state would be selected for a national-level exhibition, he added.

Jammu, July 6
The appointment of the new in charge of the state BJP is likely to change equations in the party as expelled party MLA Chaman Lal Gupta as well as six suspended MLAs have intensified their campaign to expose the party legislators, who were given the clean chit in the cross-voting episode of April 13.

Gupta and the six suspended MLAs, who had repeatedly questioned the parameters adopted by the high command to hold them responsible for cross-voting, alleged that the previous party in charge were under the influence of some legislators, who themselves had played a dubious role during the Legislative Council elections and later during the cross-voting.

“With the appointment of the new in charge, we hope that justice will be done to us because we have been made scapegoats to shield one of our colleagues whose proximity to the National Conference was well known,” one of the suspended MLAs told The Tribune. He exuded confidence that the new in charge would adopt a judicious parameter to single out those who indulged in cross-voting.

Jagdish Mukhi, a former minister in the Delhi government, was appointed the in charge of the BJP for Jammu and Kashmir in place of OP Kohli. RP Singh, co-incharge of the state BJP, was also replaced by Dr Anil Jain.

The suspended BJP leaders alleged that the decision to suspend them was taken in a haste without adopting judicious parameters. However, Mukhi said he was not in a position to speak about developments in the state BJP. “Let me take charge and only then will I be in a position to speak,” he told The Tribune over the phone. He admitted that the party was not in a good shape in the state. “To be the in charge of Jammu and Kashmir is a challenging job due to the party’s condition in the state,” he admitted, and asserted that he would try to revitalise the party with the support of workers.

Mukhi said the BJP had an emotional attachment to Jammu and Kashmir because Kashmir was core to the party’s ideology and it would activate its workers to strengthen the nationalist forces in the state.

Srinagar, July 6
In view of difficulties faced by Amarnath yatris and the public due to heavy traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the police has been directed to ensure smooth movement of the yatris in close coordination with the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

This was decided at a meeting convened by Governor NN Vohra with the Director-General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda, Principal Secretary, Home, BR Sharma and RK Goyal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SASB.

“The state police will enforce immediate action to strengthen the access control barriers/checkpoints at all the camps to ensure smooth and convenient movements of the yatris,” an official spokesman said.

It was agreed that the CEO would review the weather situation at 4 am everyday before issuing directions regarding camp-wise movements. “A close watch will be kept on the emerging weather pattern and the CEO, for the convenience of the yatris, will issue daily weather bulletins, based on the Met Department reports,” the spokesman added. The Governor directed all agencies involved in the overall management and conduct of the pilgrimage to ensure close coordination in the interest of the safety and security of the yatris, particularly regarding their movement to the base camps and the cave shrine.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the SASB has again advised all the intending pilgrims to ascertain the weather condition in the yatra area before embarking on the pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine located at a height of 13,500 ft.

The CEO stated that according to the forecast provided by the Meteorological Department, the sky would remain partly cloudy on July 7, while it would remain generally cloudy on July 8 and 9. However, on July 10 and 11, light rain or thundershowers were expected in Kashmir division. 

Udhampur, July 6
The Patnitop Development Authority (PDA) has stepped up efforts to accelerate the execution of different projects of tourist attraction, especially the ambitious ropeway project.

Besides the ropeway project, other important projects are the Sanasar-Natha Top Tourist Destination under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan, a sewage treatment plant and a fire and emergency service station at Patnitop and the construction of the Karlah-Gourikund road.

Being located within 10 km of the nearest wildlife reserve of the Dudu Forest Range, the PDA has also got the updated Environmental Impact Assessment/Environmental Management Plan (EIA/EMP) of the ropeway project done by the Department of Environmental Science, University of Jammu. The same will be submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment for clearance.

Dr MA Malik, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PDA, informed that on the intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the PDA had approached the state Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) for the clearance. “We expect the clearance will be accorded at the next meeting of the committee after we submit the copies of the EIA/EMP reports. This will enable the PDA to seek the final clearance from the Supreme Court with regard to the forests,” Malik said.

The PDA had also got a detailed project report for the sewage treatment plant prepared from the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, Lucknow, and submitted it to the state government for funding. The project, as decided at the PDA’s 14th meeting held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, would be financed over two years.

The PDA had also taken various measures to restore the natural beauty of the famous Sanasar Lake. It, after bringing two boats from Srinagar, had cleared 90 per cent of the weeds, which had covered almost the entire lake. Similarly, the detailed project report for the development of the Sansar-Natha Top Tourist Destination had been submitted to the state government for further submission to the Union Ministry of Tourism for funding. The project envisaged the construction of pathways around the lake, installation of lights, construction of sitting chambers and rain shelters and the improvement of the drainage system to protect the lake area.

The PDA had also proposed a road project to connect Karlah and Gourikund and establish a fire service station in the area, which were the long-pending demands of the people.