Jammu, June 4
To raise global awareness towards protection of environment, the United Nations Environment Programme has been observing World Environment Day tomorrow and the theme for the year is ‘Green Economy: Does it include you?’

The Tribune team talked to environment experts and some commoners to know their opinions on the issue.

Bhushan Parimoo, president of the Environment Awareness Forum, said it was an already established doctrine and every individual living on the planet was part of it.

He said: “Since 1974, the UNO has been observing the day on every 5th of June, but we need to assess the impact of the theme every year. Green Economy may sound a new concept to the world but it has always remained an indispensable part of our culture. We have been stressing always to live in uniformity and harmony with nature.”

Parimoo said holistic ways of living was a well-defined doctrine and the only need was to follow the same.

“The theme includes everyone but it has received criticism from certain corners of society, which have been fearing undue corporate intervention in the issue. One-sided approach of growth and development could defeat the intensions of people who support green economy,” he added.

Suresh Chug, Director, Department of Environmental Ecology and Remote Sensing, said: “Green economy means everything around you is being managed in an eco friendly and sustainable manner. There is less pollution and surroundings are clean, there are green jobs, the air and water are clean and people take only that much at a time, which is the minimum required and sources are not depleted.”

Dr CM Seth, chairperson, WWF, Jammu and Kashmir, said green economy suggests low environment risks as it ensures a special economic model with holistic approach.

He said, “It is more important to execute such models and for that sustained efforts are required. We would have to reach the ground level or else it could not be materialised. There are many components, including shifting our dependence from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, efficient use of energy and to correlate the issues with social equity.”

Major-Gen Govardhan Singh Jamwal (retd), president, J&K Paryavaran Sanstha, said it was not so easy to make the people of the state aware of the particular theme.

“In the context of our state in general and the Jammu region in particular, I think the most important thing is to reveal the actual status of environmental degradation. The state has the best potential to substantiate green economy model. Unfortunately, the environment of Jammu has been degrading for the past two decades and insignificant efforts are being made for its perseverance.”

Unchecked land-grabbing in forest areas

For the umpteenth time, various sections of society have raised the concern for the overactive local land mafia, who has been eating up the forest cover on the outskirts. Even the minister concerned had admitted the fact on the floor of the House, in this year’s Assembly Budget session.

The government had admitted that there were 38,410 encroachers who had illegally occupied 13,360 hectares of government land in all the 22 districts of the state. There are around 23,000 land encroachers in Jammu only.

Shrinking green cover in Jammu

On the basis of 1981 census of the state, the forest cover of Jammu district was recorded 0.15 hectare per capita, which has been reduced considerably over the years. Interestingly, the authorities concerned are not ready with the exact details for 2011-12. Expansion of the city and deforestation caused the depletion of the green cover in the district.

Tawi turning into nullah

Save Tawi Campaign, a Jammu Tribune initiative to save the Tawi river from deterioration, has brought the public attention towards the increasing pollution in the river and its depletion.

Consistent flow of the whole sewerage and municipal waste into the river has posed a major threat to the city environment. Following The Tribune initiative, many forums and individuals have come forward to play their part in saving the river.

Use of polythene bags

Despite the government imposing a ban on the use of polythene bags, the practice has not come to an end. Shokat Chowdhary, Regionbal Director, SPCB, Jammu, while talking to The Tribune, said: “To implement the ban, we have been carrying out a drive against the use of polythene bags since 2008. So far, over 26,000 kg of polythene bags have been seized from various sources. About 22,000 kg of polythene bags were seized at a check post at Lakhanpur and of the total seizure, 21,000 kg have been confiscated.”

Asked about the existing practice to curb the menace, he said: “People should realise that the polythene bags are not only responsible for environmental pollution but are also a hazard for their own health.” He said: “I want to appeal to the people of Jammu that they should avoid dumping polythene into the Tawi river.”

Jammu, June 4
While people across Jammu, particularly in the dry land areas, including the capital city, continue to bear the brunt of scorching sun and rampant power cuts, Jammu-based ministers claim they had been ‘vociferously’ raising the issue at Cabinet meetings.

Yet again they mouthed platitudes, saying that they would work out a ‘viable solution’ to improve the pathetic power scenario in Jammu. However, they couldn’t even give the broader contours of the ‘viable solution’.

Notably, the Jammu region, where mercury goes beyond 46 degrees Celsius during summers, gets lesser supply of electricity than Kashmir, which has cool climes and where temperatures don’t go beyond 28 or 30 degrees Celsius.

Though no official came on record to give the exact break up of power being supplied to both the regions, it has been reliably learnt that Jammu gets 650MW or 700 MW and Kashmir nearly 800 MW during summers.

The worsening power scenario in the region has also caused resentment among traders, industrialists, shopkeepers and local people against the cabinet ministers hailing from the region. They have blamed them of maintaining a ‘cryptic silence’ towards the hardships being faced by the public in the searing temperatures.

The Jammu Tribune talked to the Jammu-based ministers to get their viewpoint over the growing public resentment following power crisis.

ministers’ speak
We have already discussed the issue in the Cabinet and we are serious and concerned towards the problems being faced by the people due to power cuts. The government is working on a workable solution to get rid the problem of frequent power cuts. We will again take up the issue at the next Cabinet meeting and will find out a ‘viable solution’ to the problem. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds the charge of power department, too, has shown his seriousness over the problem. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of the people to refrain from malpractice of fixing illegal connections for their air-conditioners. The government is serious and there is no point discriminating against the Jammu region vis-a-vis power supply.

Tara Chand, Deputy Chief Minister

It is a fact that the people are facing the power-fluctuation problem but it doesn’t mean that the Congress ministers are silent. During the last cabinet meeting held at Karnah, I had raised the issue which was supported by all other Congress ministers. We suggested that the government should regulate and streamline the power supply. This is the genuine concern of the people and we are supposed to take all possible measures to deal with the power crisis. We will take up the matter again at the next cabinet meeting. We, Congress ministers, had also favoured for one-time relief to all the consumers who are yet to pay their electricity bills.

Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Health

We are well aware of the problems being faced by the people. I have vociferously taken up the matter with the Chief Minister and conveyed my serious concern. We are elected representatives and we are answerable to the people. I had a meeting with the Commissioner/Secretary Power and directed him for finding out a possible solution to frequent and unscheduled power cuts. Even, we have decided to announce one-time relief for the people of Jammu on the rate of interest and penalty on the consumers who have a huge outstanding amount as electricity bills.

Surjit Singh Salathia, Minister for Industries

The issue was seriously discussed at the last Cabinet meeting. All the Cabinet ministers had favoured that power supply to the Jammu region should be streamlined and the power development department (PDD) should take some drastic steps to minimise power cuts, particularly frequent unscheduled cuts. We will take up the issue again at the next Cabinet meeting to provide some sort of relief to the people in the summer.

Abdul Gani Malik, Minister for Higher Education

Jammu, June 4
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today lashed out at the Omar Abdullah-led coalition regime for its ‘failure’ to provide basic requirements like power and water to the people and declared that it would adopt the agitational path to force the government to minimise the people’s miseries.

“In the scorching heat when the maximum temperature is hovering around 45 degrees Celsius, people are struggling to get power and drinking water. The official machinery seems to have completely collapsed because some areas are facing power curtailments stretching 16 or 18 hours and some localities are not getting water supply for days together,” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said while addressing a series of public meetings at Bantalab, Krishna Nagar and in the Janipur area.

Stepping up her attack against the ruling dispensation, she said it was due to the casual approach being adopted by the state government that the residents of the city were not even getting basic facilities. “On the one hand the government has hiked tariffs of water and electricity while on the other the residents have been struggling to get potable water and power,” she pointed out.

Jammu, June 4
The open manholes on different roads in the city have become death traps and are posing a serious threat to commuters’ lives daily.

Shopkeepers and residents from various localities lamented that though they had informed the local municipal staff several times about the open manholes in several parts of the city with the plea to cover them, nothing is being done in this regard.

"Open manholes lead to accidents as they are mostly situated in the middle of the roads. There is always heavy vehicular traffic, besides a large number of schoolchildren use the roads everyday while going to their schools,” said Kartar Chand Bhagat, Kachi Chawni.

In most of the cases, contractors, who are awarded the work of putting cemented or iron covers on the manholes, use substandard material, which is the main reason for their short life. Though the authorities concerned get a lot of money to construct drains, they kept the manholes uncovered, which causes serious problems.

“It seems the authorities are always waiting for a tragedy to happen, so that to put lids over these manholes. There have been several incidents when two-wheeler drivers were injured after hitting these open manholes,” said, Suresh Bushan, a shopkeeper on the Science College road.

Vehicles often get stuck in the uncovered manholes. On the Patoli-Paloura road, there are many potholes.

“There’s hardly a road in the city where one doesn’t find open manholes. From the Parade ground to Talab Tillo, there are plenty of them, said Sunil Kumar, a resident of Resham Ghar colony.

Katra, June 4
A sudden downpour and strong winds across the district on Sunday led to the snapping of power supply to many areas, including Mahore, Pouni, Arnas and Salal.

"It was around 9.30 pm that power went off in our locality after strong winds uprooted many trees," said Sanjeev Singh of Reasi.

Around five trees were uprooted and ten poles damaged in the hailstorm that was accompanied by high-velocity winds.

Extensive damage to PDD installations at Reasi due to hailstorm had reportedly affected more than 50,000 people.

Executive Engineer of the PDD, Reasi, Manhar Gupta said efforts to restore power in the affected areas were on and supply to the Reasi district headquarters had been restored. Around eight high tension poles were damaged. Reasi and its surroundings were the worst affected areas where around 50,000 people are expected to have remained without electricity at least for a day as the damaged poles were replaced.

"Around 45 members of the staff from Reasi division of the PDD have been working round the clock to restore power supply. A high tension line has been repaired. We are working on the other poles. Power supply is expected to be restored fully in the district by Tuesday evening," said he added.

Traffic blocked for two hours

Yesterday, following unscheduled power cuts stretching 12 or 15 hours a day in rural and semi-urban areas in Reasi district, people lost their patience and held protests at sub-stations and blocked road traffic.

At Reasi, people staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s residence. Many traders and leaders extended their support to the protest. As a result, vehicular traffic had been paralysed on the DC road for almost two hours.

A protester Tariq Bhat said since the onset of summer season, water supply in the locality had been affected. "We have made numerous complaints to the department concerned for ensuring proper supply but all complaints have fallen on deaf ears," he added.

Another protester, Sashi Puri said an erratic power supply to Reasi had affected water supply. The police had tried to pacify the protesters for over two hours. Finally, the protest was called off after Reasi Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajinder Singh Tara assured them of suitable action.

Jammu, June 4
Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, while remembering Saint Kabir on his 614th birth anniversary, described Kabir as one of the great saint of the Bhakti movement and as an apostle of egalitarian society. He addressed a function organised to celebrate Parkash Utsav of the great saint and social reformer Bhagat Kabir, here today. The function was organised by Bhagat Mahasabha.

He said Kabir propagated the message of peace, love and devotion, to the supreme lord without any discrimination of birth, place or caste. Urging the people to follow the path laid down by Kabir, Tara said the teaching of the revered Saints have a universal appeal and the people should work together to create an equal society.

He said the government should work for the marginalised sections of society. He further added that exemplary initiatives had been taken by the present dispensation to ameliorate the underprivileged.

He said the government had enacted the Inter-District Recruitment Bill, which would ensure the reservation for Scheduled Castes in all the regions of the state. Meanwhile, the J&K Shri Sad Guru Kabir Sabha also celebrated Kabir Jayanti taking out a religious procession.

Jammu, June 4
Provincial president of the National Conference (NC) Rattan Lal Gupta said today that the NC was the only premier political party in the state which had contributed in all spheres of life. Gupta was addressing a public meeting organised by the former corporator of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).

He said the coalition government headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had sanctioned a huge amount to develop sanitation system, construct lanes and drains, to purchase new scientific equipment for cleaning the lanes and drains in Jammu and its surrounding areas.

He said there were unscheduled power cuts in various areas which were causing inconveniences to the people, especially students and senior citizens. He asked the authorities concerned to ensure that the unscheduled power cuts were minimised as the temperature in Jammu and its surroundings had crossed 44°C.

He said the party should make efforts by taking punitive, remedial and reformative measures to address the problems of the masses and assured the workers that a minister would visit the areas and pass on-the-spot orders.

MLC Vijay Bakaya in his address highlighted the achievements of the government, particularly for Kashmiri Pandits.

He said it was due to the efforts of the government that Jagti Township for Kashmiri migrants had come up in a shortest span of time. He also provided Rs 5,50,000 for the purchase of transformer in the area.

Jammu, June 4
On Day 3 of the Jammu University Entrance Test, as many as 4,463 students appreared across nine centres in the university. On the second day of the entrance tests for the streams of Chemistry, MEd, MPEd and PGDBM, the strength of students reflected the success of entrance test.

The students are motivated to prepare rigorously for the exams spread over nine centers including Jammu, Leh, Bhadarwah, Poonch, Rajouri, Srinagar and Udhampur among other stations.

There were 109 absentees for the chemistry test, 416 for MEd, 9 for MPEd and 31 for PGDBM.

Over all, the number of students who appeared for the exams was good.

Katra, June 4
The All-Jammu and Kashmir Kissan Union (AJKKU) today staged a massive dharna at Reasi opposite the office of Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, demanding Rs 500 crore relief package for drought hit areas in Jammu.

A large number of farmers, under the leadership of Union Chairman Ashok Sharma assembled at the district headquarters and staged a dharna for their demands.

Addressing the gathering, Sharma said, “The government should formulate a comprehensive farm policy for the state so that the losses caused to standing crops, orchards and livestock due to drought, excessive rains, floods, hail storm and various other natural calamities are compensated.”

He said there had been a long dry spell in Jammu during the past two months and delay in the release of water in the irrigation canals had caused this situation. He demanded a special package of Rs 500 crore to compensate the farmers. The union leaders also demanded free ration for six months and power supply to all the affected farmers of Jammu along with free seeds, fertilisers, and other agriculture implements for coming Kharief crop.

Jammu, June 4
District Rajouri eves proved their supremacy by clinching both U-14 and U-17 titles today in the Divisional Level Inter-District Kabaddi Tournament, which concluded at Youth Hostel, Nagrota, here.

In U-14 kabaddi final, Rajouri got the better of Jammu by 7 points (27-24) to lift the title trophy. Earlier, in the semifinals played, Rajouri registered a narrow win by 3 points over Reasi (27-24) while Jammu toppled Samba by 15 points (25-10). In U-17 final, Rajouri survived some anxious moments before scripted a thrilling win over Samba by 2 points (19-17) to bag the top honours. In the semifinals played, Samba and Rajouri overcame the challenge of Jammu and Reasi by 15 and 18 points, respectively.