Jammu, August 20
Thousands of people thronged mosques to offer prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr despite heavy rain in Jammu city.

The main function, that was to be held at Eidgah on the Residency road, was cancelled because of the rain that started late last night. The namaz was then performed at a mosque in Talab Khatikan. People gathered at the mosque and performed namaz in groups as there was not enough space for all people to offer prayers at one time.

All Eidgahs across Jammu city cancelled their programmes and namaz was performed at various mosques where people offered prayers and exchanged Eid greetings. The festival, which falls at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, is celebrated on the first date of the month of Shawwal, according to the Islamic calendar.

Abdul Gani Malik, Minister for Higher Education, who was present during the Eid prayers at the Talab Khatikan mosque told mediapersons on the sidelines of the function, “Though rain disturbed the main function, festivity could be seen everywhere. Besides Muslims, people of other religions also participated in the celebrations. This showcases secularism in our state. I wish Eid brings peace and prosperity here as well as across the world.”

The festival is associated with fasting and feasting. After a month of fasting, people celebrate this day with prayers and feasting. Eid is a festival when families unite and celebrate the festival together.

Arshad Bhat, a resident of Reasi, said, “My parents specially come from Reasi to celebrate Eid with us at Jammu. My wife is from Jammu and it is not possible to go there every year. However, this is the day when our families get together.”

“Though there was rain in the morning, it failed to dampen our spirits. We offered prayers at the masjid and went to relatives and friends’ places to exchange Eid greetings,” he added.

Namaz was also performed at other mosques in Jammu and the outskirts, including Malik Market, Panjtirthi, Jama Masjid, Talab Khatika, Karbala and Sidhra.

Jammu, August 20
The Citizens Forum has blamed large-scale bungling and rampant corruption for the drinking water shortage in the city.

During a meeting of the forum held under the chairmanship of its president RK Chadha today, the members alleged that Rs 360 crore sanctioned by the Central government after borrowing the same from Asian Development Bank (ADB) a decade ago had not been utilised properly for creating infrastructure.

The forum alleged that the scheme to divert water from the Chenab to meet the growing needs of the people was never taken up because the money meant for the same had been diverted.

They observed that the authorities in the engineering department had taken the plea that the Chenab water could not be filtered to provide clean drinking water to the people due to silt.

“If the project of harnessing water from the river for supply to city is taken up, the drinking water problems will end. The diversion of money for digging tube-wells through the ERA has not served the desired purpose and the city is still facing an acute shortage of water,” Chadha alleged.

The forum said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had recently announced Rs 500 crore from the ADB to harness water from the river for supply to the city, thus diverting to the old proposal.

The cost had since escalated and by the time the projected was completed, it might increase further, as the work would be carried out at a slow pace with corrupt executive agencies watching their personal interests.

In 1994-95, the forum had taken up the matter of bringing water from the Chenab to the city by gravity.

Gulam Nabi Azad, the then Minister for Water Resources at the Centre, had sent a team from Neeri, Nagpur, to prepare a project.

“They projected a cost of Rs 220 crore for the project. But the NC government at that time shelved the project as it pertained to the Jammu region. The forum again took up the matter with Mufti Mohd Sayeed in 2002. A committee of five chief engineers was formed and money was brought for the project,” he alleged.

Katra, August 20
Incessant rain over the past two days has brought life to a virtual standstill, causing widespread damage to roads in the remote areas of Reasi.

Heavy rain at many places caused damage to public and private property and cultivable land.

Heavy rain in Katra affected traffic on the link roads connecting Katra-Udhampur, Domail-Katra, Pouni-Reasi, Mahore-Reasi and Katra- Reasi, as several small bridges were washed away in flash floods.

Massive landslides at Balni, situated on the Katra-Reasi road, resulted in traffic jams lasting more than five hours.

The landslides triggered by downpour caused extensive damage to roads at several places in Mahore sub-division, where long traffic jams were witnessed.

The stretch from Sulla park to Simbla Chowa on the Karta-Reasi road was also affected by landslides.

Officials said bulldozers and JCB machines had been pressed into service in landslide-prone areas.

Jammu, August 20
Former Jammu SSP Manohar Singh, who has been imprisoned for fudging evidence in the much-publicised Amandeep murder case, was brought to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, for routine medical examination.

Singh was brought to the GMCH this afternoon and was being examined till the reports poured in.

Manohar Singh and other police officers, including Inspector Sultan Mirza, former SHO, Gandhi Nagar, sub-inspector Satnam Singh, former Investigating Officer (IO) in the case, and Choudhary Nagar Singh along with his two brothers, Rakesh Singh and Jaggar Singh, were imprisoned for fudging the evidence of crime, including the weapon used to kill Amandeep.

Satnam Singh had died due to some ailment in the GMCH in June this year.

Amandeep was shot dead outside his home in posh Shastri Nagar locality by Jatinder Singh.

katra, August 20
It was a day of prayers, feasting and togetherness on Monday as Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr in Reasi, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Traditional greetings of “Eid Mubarak” echoed all around as thousands of Muslims, dressed in their finest dresses, gathered at mosques all over the district. The centre of attraction was the historic Jama Masjid in Reasi town.

The devotees also prayed for communal harmony and welfare of the country on the occasion. They also prayed for the victims of violence in Assam and other parts of the world.

Children dressed in new clothes added colour to the celebrations. After the prayers, people wished and hugged each other.

Reasi Deputy Commissioner Nirmal Sharma also visited the Jama Masjid and exchanged greetings with Muslim brethren. She expressed gratitude to Muslim leaders for promoting peace and harmony during the festivities.

The police had beefed up security in and around various masjids.

Batote: Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated in Ramban district with religious gaiety and fervour under tight security. Undeterred by drizzle, around 30,000 Muslims offered prayers at the Eidgahs of Batote, Ramban, Banihal and Gool towns and other places in the district. The biggest congregation was observed at Eidgah in Banihal, where about 11,000 Muslims offered prayers with maulvi Nazir Ahmed.

At Batote, around 4,000 Muslims from Batote and surrounding areas took out a procession up to Jama Masjid through market and raised religious slogans after offering Namaz-e-Eid with maulvi Khalil-ur-Rehman. Maulvi Khalil also prayed for the peace and progress of J&K and India. At Eidgahs of Gool, Ramban and Chanderkot, around 3,000, 1500 and 500 Muslims offered prayers, respectively.

Jammu, August 20
With the state championship and other important competitions round the corner, gymnasts of the state have expressed concern over the alleged infighting within the J&K Gymnastics Association. They (gymnasts) claimed that the prevailing scenario would hamper their preparations for the forthcoming National Games and other national and international sports competitions.

The gymnasts while talking to The Tribune expressed resentment over the alleged negligent attitude of the authorities in solving a long-pending issue. “Despite all hindrances, the gymnasts have brought laurels to the state but the ongoing infighting within the association is proving fatal for the betterment of the game,” said one of the gymnasts on the condition of anonymity.

“Despite lack of infrastructural facilities, there are so many gymnasts who have proved their mettle at the higher levels and the association instead of felicitating them is busy in its internal politics,” claimed another gymnast. “Ever since the game was introduced in a stadium, we are demanding the construction of an exclusive gymnastic hall but except announcements nothing concrete has been done so far,” the gymnast added.

Sources said even before affiliation with the J&K Olympic Council, there were two parallel associations already established under the name of J&K Gymnastics Association and Amateur Gymnastics Association of J&K.

Sources added that office-bearers of both the associations unanimously agreed to run a single association under the banner of J&K Gymnastics Association. Rafiq Sadiq and DD Mehta were elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the association.

The sources further claimed that after the demise of DD Mehta, the association elected Ajit Singh Wazir its general secretary. “In 2008, Rafiq Sadiq passed away and the association in order to run its affairs elected senior vice-president SA Hameed its working president till the conduct of fresh elections,” the source added.

A senior official of the J&K State Sports Council told The Tribune that despite the complexities within the J&K Gymnastics Association, the gymnasts would not suffer at any cost. “Nobody will be allowed by the Sports Council to dictate terms no matter which association he represents. “We are very much aware of the necessities of gymnasts of our state and we are doing our level best to provide them adequate infrastructure,” he maintained.

Jammu, August 20
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla has said the Government Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, Gangyal, will soon be upgraded to a 100-bedded facility. A detailed project report of Rs 48 crore has been prepared in this regard.

Bhalla said this after paying tributes to Rajiv Gandhi on his 68th birth anniversary at a function organised at the hospital today.

The minister said Rs 3.5 crore had also been earmarked for the digging up of a tube-well at the hospital.

He said with the commissioning of the tube-well, adequate drinking water facilities would be provided to the hospital and its adjoining areas.

The minister said the hospital would be equipped with an administrative block, a garage, toilet blocks, a canteen, a parking slot, CT scan and X-ray machines, a laboratory, a resuscitation room, an analyser room, blood bank facilities, etc. He said the project would be started soon after completing the tendering process.

Jammu, August 20
Members of the Jammu West Assembly Movement (JWAM) today held a protest against the Power Development Department (PDD) and Public Health and Engineering (PHE) Department against the acute shortage of drinking water and power supply.

The protesters led by Sunil Dimple, president, JWAM, alleged that unscheduled power cuts in the city for the past three months had made the lives of people miserable.

Residents of Janipur, Amphalla, New Plot, Sarwal, Rehari, Bakshi Nagar, Tallab Tillo, Subash Nagar, and Krishna Nagar gathered in New Plot and burnt the effigies of the PDD and PHE Department.

Dimple alleged that the Chief Minister had been fake announcements about the allocation of Rs 200 crore for additional power whereas the people had got no respite from the acute shortage of electricity supply.

Rajouri, August 20
Ravinder Sharma, member of legislative council and general secretary, PCC has said that the work of renovation and upgradation of the road from Tian bridge to TCP Nowshera, up to Jhanger via Nowshera town, would be taken up soon by the GREF authorities, keeping in view the dilapidated condition of the road.

Sharma said this during a meeting with GREF authorities in the presence of prominent citizens at Dak Bungalow, Nowshera.

It was an urgent need and a long-pending demand of the people of Nowshera town and other parts of the tehsil to improve the conditions of the link road from Tian bridge Nowshera to Jhanger. The construction of a bridge at Kanara and at Seri would also be taken up this year by the GREF authorities. The demand for construction of bridge at Sodra on Sunderbani-Beripatan road has also been projected for the next year.

Sharma asked GREF authorities to take up these works at the earliest and the latter assured that the work will be taken up after the monsoon.

Various organisational and developmental issues of Nowshera tehsil were discussed in the meeting.

Batote, August 20
Villagers of Pogal panchayat (Upper) and contiguous Mligam panchayat (B) have been living under a constant fear for the past around 10 days because of a stray bear.

“For the past 10 days, a wild bear comes in this area in the early morning and keeps roaming till evening. Since apples, walnuts and wild apricots (haadi) are ripe now, the bear comes to eat these fruits. Apricot is his favourite fruit. Today morning it was seen in the Kilvagam Sargali hamlet and in the afternoon it was spotted in the Kunda Maligam hamlet where local policemen and villagers shooed him away. It is still roaming in Kilvagam. Though it has not harmed anybody as of now, people are panicky to venture out alone, especially early in the morning and late evening. They always carry some sharp-edged weapons or sticks with them. We can neither kill him under the Wildlife Protection Act nor we can tackle this beast,” said AQ Bhat, sarpanch, Upper Pogal.

Jammu, August 20
ACC Reds defeated WCC Blues by two wickets in the ongoing Parvez Qureshi Memorial Cricket tournament. The event is being organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) at the University of Kashmir ground.

Batting first, WCC was skittled out for 145 runs in 34 overs. Abhinav Kaw and Ravi Pandita were the main contributors with 28 and 23 runs, respectively. From ACC Reds, Swarnjeet Singh was the most successful bowler with a four-wicket haul while Omar Nazir chipped in with two wickets.

In reply, ACC Reds did the needful losing eight wickets in the process. Irshad Ahmed played an unbeaten match-winning knock of 48 runs. Rakesh took three wickets while Rohit Pandita bagged two wickets for WCC Blues.

Jammu, August 20
The Government Higher Secondary School, Narriwala, defeated Government Higher Secondary School, Akhnoor, yesterday in the ongoing zonal-level tournament of Akhnoor and Choki Chora by six points in the U-19 boys kho-kho event. The event is being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS), district Jammu.

In the previous matches, Akhnoor thrashed Chowki Chora by 10 points.

In volleyball, Government Higher Secondary School, Sohal, dispatched St Francis Higher Secondary School by 2-1 while in kabaddi, the HSS Narriwala overcame the challenge of the HSS Akhnoor by 18 points in a one-sided contest.