Jammu, July 15
With the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting heavy rain in the Jammu region in the next 24 to 48 hours, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department is geared up to meet the challenges posed by flooding.

Last year, rain played havoc with the Jammu region, as it caused a huge loss of lives and property. A large number of people were trapped in the flash floods in the Tawi and other canals in the region and several vehicles were washed away.

Ashwani Sharma, Chief Engineer, Flood Control Department, told The Tribune over the phone that they were fully prepared to deal with any situation arising out of heavy rain and a timely advisory would be issued to the people living in the low-lying areas and along the Chenab.

“Last year, a number of people were trapped in the flash floods, but this year, we are ready to deal with any situation. The people also need to follow the advisory,” he said. He added that the department had taken all the necessary steps in this regard.

Sharma said, “Flood control rooms have been set up at all important stations and the information about phone numbers has been disseminated among the people so that in case of emergency, the person might seek help of the nearest control room.”

Terming the sudden rise in the water level in the Chenab as the main reason for the floods, the Chief Engineer said, “The water level in the Chenab rises due to heavy rain in the upper reaches, causing the maximum damage. But this can also be avoided if the people don’t go near the river during rain.”

He said so far, the water level in the Chenab was below the danger level.

Sharma appealed to the public to cooperate with the authorities tasked with rescue operations. Meanwhile, the Flood Control Department has also asked the Army and the Indian Air Force for help in rescue operations.

Samba, July 15
An angry mob blocked traffic on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway for nearly two hours today in protest against poor facilities and an insufficient number of doctors at the district hospital.

“Around 9.30 pm yesterday, a scooterist and two pillion riders were critically injured when a tipper hit their vehicle at Samba. They were rushed to the Samba district hospital, but to our utter dismay, only one doctor was available there,” said Anil Singh, a local resident.

Though the doctor attended to them and referred the two seriously injured to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Jammu, there was no proper arrangement for shifting them and a decrepit van was arranged for the purpose, he said.

Annoyed over the van’s condition, the people entered into a heated argument with the Deputy Medical Superintendent of the hospital, he added.

However, the situation became tense this morning when one of the seriously injured died at the GMCH. While the doctors went on a strike protesting against the alleged manhandling of the Deputy Medical Superintendent,the locals blocked the highway, he added.

The residents alleged that despite repeated reminders to the district administration and the health authorities, no steps had been initiated to provide proper health care in the hospital.

SSP, Samba, Israr Khan said while the doctors alleged that the locals misbehaved with the Deputy Medical Superintendent and manhandled him,the locals expressed their resentment against the absence of doctors in the hospital at night.

“Though the blockade caused hardships to daily commuters, we diverted the traffic via Dayalachak, Mansar and other border roads,” said the SSP. The blockade was lifted only after Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Mubarak Singh visited the spot and assured the protesters of action against the doctors, who were absent from duty last night.

Talking to The Tribune, Mubarak said there was some delay on the part of the doctor in attending to the injured at the hospital, but the Chief Medical Officer claimed that they were treated immediately.

About the doctors, who were absent, the Deputy Commissioner said, “The surgeon was absent from duty and action under the rules would be initiated against him. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.”

Regarding insufficient arrangements at the hospital, he said a new building was coming up at a cost of around Rs 7 crore.

Srinagar, July 15
Minister for Forests and Environment Mian Altaf Ahmad today visited the Baltal base camp to review the arrangements for the smooth conduct of the Amarnath yatraAhmad also visited a medical camp and took stock of the facilities. Later, he met devotees and enquired about the arrangements at the base camp and en route the holy cave shrine.

The pilgrims expressed satisfaction over the facilities provided by the state government.

Officials informed the minister that 500 quintals of rice, 365 quintals of flour and 95 quintals of sugar in addition to adequate stock of kerosene oil and LPG cylinders had been made available to the yatris.

Meanwhile, the Amarnath yatra was suspended briefly on both the Chandanwari and Baltal routes today due to bad weather. However, it was resumed after the weather showed some improvement. “Due to widespread rain in the yatra area, the movement of the yatris towards the cave shrine on both the Chandanwari and Baltal routes could start only around 9:30 am today,” a spokesman for the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said.

He said the movement of the yatris was now reported to be progressing satisfactorily. The intending pilgrims could check the weather forecast on the website of the Indian Meteorological Department (www.amssdelhi.gov.in).

Udhampur, July 15
The police has busted an international gang of smugglers of precious gems in Kishtwar, home to world famous sapphire mines, with the arrest of three Sri Lankan nationals and the recovery of sapphires worth lakhs from them.

Deputy SP( HQ), Abrar Chawdhary, said after getting specific inputs, a team was constituted to establish the involvement of international smugglers. Besides using local sources, the police cracked the case by decoding the identity of the gang by using hi-tech methods.

The arrested smugglers were identified as Mohammed Ikram, Mohammed Shah Bin Qasim Bin Hattar and Akber Qasim of Berola in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka. The local contact accompanying them was identified as Ramesh Kumar of Sounder Dacchan village of Kishtwar district. The accused were booked under Sections 4/5 of the J&K Sapphire (Prevention of Smuggling) Act.Their interrogation revealed that their area of operation was spread over Sri Lanka, India, Singapore and Hong Kong

The police set up nakas in Kishtwar town and on the Padder road which leads to Sonchan sapphire mines.The smugglers, however,changed their dresses and vehicles on several occasions to escape being caught by the police. But they were intercepted at Hanjala towards north of Kishtwar.

During a search, the police recovered world famous Padder blue sapphire worth lakhs from their possession. Preliminary investigation showed the international smugglers managed entry into the state, especially into the Chenab basin, with the help of local contacts.

Chowdhary said the local associate of the smugglers, Ramesh Kumar, operated between Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir to contact customers for selling smuggled gems and drugs. The police also recovered a large number of mobile phone sets with local, STD and international call facilities from the gang. Another accomplice of Ramesh, whose identity was kept secret by the police, managed to escape.

The investigation had provided important clues regarding the involvement of more local gem smugglers of Kishtwar town. “We are likely to make more arrests soon.The police is also zeroing in on the involvement of some top officials of the JK Minerals Corporation whose involvement cannot be ruled out,” said Chowdhary.

Jammu, July 15
Peeved over the state government’s nonchalant attitude towards demands of government employees, the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), a conglomerate of three factions of employees, has given a call for a “Civil Secretariat march” in Srinagar on July 18.

The state has more than 4.5 lakh government employees.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) chief Ram Kumar Sharma said if the government failed to concede their demands by July 17, the employees would hold a march to the CivilSecretariat in Srinagar on July 18.

“The government has not fulfilled its promise and it seems that it has been trying to backtrack from the agreement arrived at between the JCC and the government in February and May last year,” he said.

The EJAC is one of the constituents of the JCC.

Sharma expressed regret over the lukewarm response of the government towards the demands of the employees.

“Two other factions headed by trade union leaders, Khurshid Alam and Abdul Qayoom Wani, have extended their support to us, to wage a decisive battle against the government,” claimed Sharma.

In April last year, the government had invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) after an agitation.

Among other demands, the employees have been asking for the release of the Sixth Pay Commission’s arrears in two installments, the formulation of a policy for the regularisation of daily wage workers, the enhancement of the retirement age from 58 to 60 years and the removal of pay anomalies.

Srinagar, July 15
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today announced the holding of urban local body elections in the state after Ramzan. Omar added that the Housing and Urban Development Department had been asked to finalise a programme in this regard.

“The establishment of urban local bodies and municipal corporations is the next target of the government after conducting the panchayat elections in the state,” he said. The Chief Minister was chairing a meeting of the District Development Board here today.

Omar asked the district administration to be prepared for the elections. “We intend to hold the elections after the month Ramzan,” he said, and added that the government wanted all the three tiers of democratic institutions to function effectively to ensure good governance and involvement of the grass-roots representatives in the development and plan formulation processes.

The Chief Minister asked the administration to study the third-party monitoring agency NABCON reports and make note of the points identified by the agency, to correct the development strategies where required.

Speaking at the meeting, the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, announced Rs 10 lakh for each Srinagar constituency under the MPLAD Fund. He also announced Rs 25 lakh for the construction of a sarai at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences.

The Union Minister told the legislators that he would also keep Rs 5 lakh reserved for each Assembly segment. “These funds will be made available to you after you utilise Rs 10 lakh per constituency,” he told the legislators.

Srinagar, July 15
Director-General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda today said the police and the security forces in the state were ready to face any eventuality, particularly in view of the Amarnath yatra and the heavy rush of tourists.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function at the SKICC here, Khoda said steps had been taken to maintain peace.As compared to the previous three years, a large number of tourists and Amarnath pilgrims had come to the Kashmir valley this year.

During the stepped-up vigil,the police recovered a number of IEDs during the past one month, the DGP said in reply to a question.

All the efforts were being made to provide security to the people,he maintained. In view of the latest developments, the police and the security forces carried out anti-sabotage checks along both the routes to the Amarnath cave shrine yesterday, he said.

Jammu, July 15
Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today held a protest against the alleged “irresponsible” remarks of Congress national general secretary Rahul Gandhi in the backdrop of the Mumbai serial blasts. The protesters were led by morcha’s state president Munish Sharma.

Rahul had reportedly said in Bhubneshwar yesterday that it was difficult to stop every terror attack in the country. He had asserted that 99 per cent of such possible strikes were neutralised though “one or two attacks get through.”

The morcha activists were carrying the party flag and placards. They also tried to torch Rahul’s effigy but were chased away by the police. Some protesters were injured in the scuffle with the police.

Meanwhile, the BJP high command has condemned the use of force against the peaceful protesters.

Sharma said Rahul should visit the victims of the Mumbai blasts and seek an explanation from the Maharashtra government where his party was a coalition partner.

He said the UPA government at the Centre and the NC-Congress government in Jammu and Kashmir never missed any opportunity to criticise the BJP over one issue or the other.

Aseem Gupta, Sanjay Baru, Surinder Choudhary, Vipan Shastri, Vijay Choudhary, Parimoksh Seth, Ajay Vaid, S. Sheetal Singh, Munish Khajuria, Ravi Mehra, Karunesh Gupta, Karan Sharma and others took part in the protest.