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Pakistan may have planned Samba tunnel a decade ago
Seismic experts, ISRO to be roped in to seek tunnel details
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PDP chief blames AFSPA for Bandipore
youth’s killing
Mehbooba blames AFSPA for Bandipore youth’s killing
BJP slams govt for intelligence failure
Guv, Chib discuss health care
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Pakistan may have planned Samba tunnel a decade ago
Chalyari, Indo-Pak Border, July 30 Now, the thick shield of densely grown trees probably came in handy for their covert operation — the 500-metre-long tunnel — which was recently detected in the Samba sector. “Despite our protests, the Pakistani Rangers have been planting saplings on their territory all along the 192-km-long international border with an ulterior motive to block our view,” a senior BSF officer confided in The Tribune. “They have been doing it since 2002… it has been 10 years now. The saplings, which they planted a decade ago, have now become full-grown trees blocking our view,” he added. However, the officer said that for the past five years the BSF had made it clear to the Pakistani Rangers that no new plantation would be allowed along the border. “Now, we are not allowing them to plant fresh saplings because once these saplings grow and become trees, they restrict our view and affect our surveillance,” said the officer. Pakistani Rangers in the past had also constructed multi-storied concrete bunkers along the border. BSF sources said the full-grown trees had reduced the sight from two km to half a kilometre. “Though they (Rangers) had assured us of saving the environment, we had given them in writing that this practice would not be allowed anymore,” they said. Sources said saplings were, however, again planted by Pakistan over the past two years. These have grown to a considerable height in the highly sensitive and strategic border areas of Akhnoor, Pallanwala, Kathua, Samba and RS Pura. The BSF has pruned some of the trees whose branches extended to the Indian side. The sources said that Pakistani Rangers deliberately planted “sheesham” and “arandi” (castor) because they grow rapidly. Of late the BSF has equipped its jawans with sophisticated night vision devices and thermal imagers and also rely upon satellite imaging to keep a watch on the activity across the border. Pak’s game plan
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Seismic experts, ISRO to be roped in to seek tunnel details
Jammu, July 30 A 500-metre-long secret tunnel was unearthed at Chalyari in the Samba sector on July 28. Talking to mediapersons after inspecting the site, Mishra said the help of seismic experts from the Geological Survey of India, Army and the ISRO would be sought to find out the exact length of the tunnel. “They will also be asked to find the mouth of the tunnel, if it had,” said the IG. To another query, he said, prima facie it appeared that the tunnel was being dug to push infiltrators to this side or for smuggling narcotics. When asked about the possibility of more such tunnels, running from Pakistan into the restive state along the international border, the IG said it was a matter of investigation. “The BSF has no such equipment to detect underground activity. We have asked specialist agencies to go into the issue threadbare,” said Mishra. Another senior BSF officer informed The Tribune that the IG had visited the Chalyari border outpost to investigate the matter and apprise the DG, BSF, UK Bansal, for the further course of action. “To rule out any misadventure, we are looking for outlets of such tunnels, if there are any, all along the international border. So far the reports are negative,” said the officer. “We can observe and detect overground activity, but as of today, security forces in the country have no technology to detect any underground activity,” said the officer. |
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13th foundation day anniversary
Srinagar, July 30 On the occasion, the party passed a resolution where it urged the Centre to initiate action on various features of the PDP self-rule vision document, which it saw as a practical way forward on the resolution of the Kashmir problem. The resolution demanded that travel across the Line of Control (LoC) should be made easy and routes like the Jhangarh-Mirpur, Tattapani-Kotli, Skardu-Kargil, Turtuk-Khapulu and Badipur-Astore be reopened so that the state can get out of the “siege” around it following the Partition of the country. Alleging that the state had been “grossly wronged” with respect to its water resources, the PDP demanded that the terms of agreement with the National Hydropower Corporation (NHPC), which operates several power projects in the state, be immediately renegotiated and the facility be extended to the state to take up new power projects on its own. It demanded that the application of Article 356 of the Constitution of India to J&K be rolled back. The PDP said it was necessary to take Pakistan on board while seeking the resolution of the Kashmir issue and laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be revoked. “Last but not the least, the gathering records its belief that the state is incomplete without the active participation of the Kashmiri Pandit community in its social, political and economic affairs,” the resolution said. It also called upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to revive the summit-level formal contact with Pakistan to carry forward the peace process.
‘Kashmir should top Krishna-Khar talks’
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Monday said Kashmir-specific confidence-building measures (CBMs) should figure prominently during the talks between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar in September. He urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to accept the invitation of Pak President Asif Ali Zardari to visit the neighbouring country on Guru Nanak's birth anniversary. |
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PDP chief blames AFSPA for Bandipore
youth’s killing
Srinagar, July 30 “Ikhwanis are making a comeback….if they had been wiped out, the Bandipore incident would not have taken place….Hilal’s death took place because of the nexus between security forces and ikhwanis,” Mehbooba told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function held here on the party’s 13th foundation day. Earlier, while addressing a large gathering at Tourist Reception Ground, she said Hilal’s life was taken by the “black law....AFSPA”. Mehbooba was referring to the killing of a youth Hilal Dar in Bandipore last week, which triggered massive protests in the area. While the Army claimed that the youth was killed in an encounter, Defence Minister AK Antony announced a probe into the incident. Asserting that it was high time that the footprints of security forces were removed from civilian areas to avoid incidents like the Bandipore killing, the PDP president said: “There is no need to beef up security for yatris or tourists….people will provide them security…..the government has to trust the people,” she said. The PDP president said the unemployment problem was the biggest challenge after militancy, which had subsided. Stating that the youth were the worst sufferers of the turmoil in Kashmir as they were facing unemployment, torture and killings, she reminded Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of his last year’s promise, where he had announced amnesty for stone-throwers. Mehbooba claimed that FIRs were still registered against 5,000 youths, who were looked at with suspicion outside the state. Reiterating the PDP’s demand for opening up of traditional routes connecting the state with Central Asia, she said: “We do not want secession…. but we want to be residents of these places (Central Asia).” |
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Mehbooba blames AFSPA for Bandipore youth’s killing
Srinagar, July 30 “Ikhwanis are making a comeback….if they had been wiped out, the Bandipore incident would not have taken place….Hilal’s death took place because of the nexus between security forces and ikhwanis,” Mehbooba told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function held here on the party’s 13th foundation day. Earlier, while addressing a large gathering at Tourist Reception Ground, she said Hilal’s life was taken by the “black law....AFSPA”. Mehbooba was referring to the killing of a youth Hilal Dar in Bandipore last week, which triggered massive protests in the area. While the Army claimed that the youth was killed in an encounter, Defence Minister AK Antony announced a probe into the incident. Asserting that it was high time that the footprints of security forces were removed from civilian areas to avoid incidents like the Bandipore killing, the PDP president said: “There is no need to beef up security for yatris or tourists….people will provide them security…..the government has to trust the people,” she said. The PDP president said the unemployment problem was the biggest challenge after militancy, which had subsided. Stating that the youth were the worst sufferers of the turmoil in Kashmir as they were facing unemployment, torture and killings, she reminded Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of his last year’s promise, where he had announced amnesty for stone-throwers. Mehbooba claimed that FIRs were still registered against 5,000 youths, who were looked at with suspicion outside the state. Reiterating the PDP’s demand for opening up of traditional routes connecting the state with Central Asia, she said: “We do not want secession….we are the citizens of this country, but we also want to be residents of these places (Central Asia).” She reminded the BJP of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement, where he had said the Kashmir issue should be resolved within the ambit of humanity. “All our demands are within humanity,” she said.
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River rafting attracting more tourists to Ladakh
Leh, July 30 The river provides four grades of rafting, which are certified as per the Indian Asian standard by the Indian Rafting Federation. Three rivers, the Indus, Zanaskar and the Shayok, are popular for rafting in Ladakh and the Suru river in Kargil district is popular for kayaking. Jora Dawa, one of the local pioneers in the field, said, “River rafting in Ladakh is growing rapidly. In each season, the number of tourists performing the adventure sport is increasing. When I started river rafting as one of the services for our clients in 2005, 500 clients did rafting through our agency that year. Now, 2,000 to 3,000 clients do rafting during the four tourism months.” With the increase in the flow of domestic tourists in the region over the recent years, the season for rafting has extended from two to four months starting from June to September. When rafting started in 1990s, it would be done in July and August when foreign tourists visit Ladakh. Dawa said rafting was also popular among domestic tourists and about 60 per cent of them were doing river rafting. A 9-km-long stretch from Tsogsti to Nimoo on the Zanaskar and 28-km-long stretch from Phey to Nimoo on the Indus are popular for rafting. Zanaskar is popular with foreign tourists than the Indus because of its cold water and high waves, which give a thrilling experience. Professionalism among local agencies has just begun. For the first time, the process of registration and licensing of raft with the Tourism Department has begun this year. To check the quality of the raft and other rafting equipment, a committee comprising officials of the Tourism Department and representatives of the All Ladakh Tour Operators’ Association was formed recently. President of the tour operators’ association Tsering Namgail said, “We have been urging the local Tourism Department to initiate licensing of rafts owned by travel agencies for the past few years in order to bring professionalism in the field. Finally, it started this year.” Dawa said a refresher course on safety measures, professionally known as Rescue Three and First Aid for guides is scheduled to be held at Leh in the last week of September. Lure of the Zanaskar
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BJP slams govt for intelligence failure
Jammu, July 30 Manhas said the discovery of the 25-foot-deep underground tunnel should serve as “an eye-opener” for the UPA government. “An underground tunnel 25 feet deep and more than 300 metres long running inside the Indian territory could not have been constructed by civilians or local officials but must have been created by those who had the full support of the Pakistan government,” he said. Manhas advised the UPA government to deal with Pakistan on the basis of ground realities. Meanwhile, former BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta has stressed the need for a deep look into the whole security scenario vis-à-vis Pakistan. He expressed surprise over the certain recent statements of government leaders claiming improvement in the situation of the state. |
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Guv, Chib discuss health care
Srinagar, July 30 The Minister also discussed with the Governor initiatives being taken for the promotion of sports and implementation of schemes aimed at the welfare of youth. The Governor stressed the importance of ensuring satisfactory medical and health care services delivery to people of the state. Various matters pertaining to the rapid socio-economic development of
the state also came up for discussion during the meeting. |
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