Reality Check

* More people die in accidents than in militancy related incidents

* The deployment of critical care ambulances along the highway has assumed significance in view of growing number of road accidents and fatalities due to these mishaps

* In 2009, 1,100 persons were killed and 8,199 were injured in 5,945 road accidents in the state

* As many as 889 persons were killed and 7,178 were injured in 5,053 accidents in the state up to November in 2010, whereas there were only 488 militancy related incidents in 2010 in which 475 persons, including 232 ultras, were killed

Srinagar, August 26
The cases of cardiac arrest, which has been globally identified as a major cause of death, are being handled with too little a caution in the SMHS Hospital, one of the major tertiary care hospitals of the Valley. The reasons for this include non-availability of fundamental trainings like Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) training, which need to be imparted to doctors in general and those posted in emergency wards in particular.

Sources told Kashmir Tribune that these trainings, which are provided periodically in all major hospitals in the country, have not been made available here even though this hospital faces the highest mortality rate due to cardiac arrests.

Moreover, there are just four cardiologists posted in the hospital who take care of such cases.

A junior resident doctor in an emergency ward says eventually 90 per cent of deaths result from heart attacks and hence it becomes extremely important for the junior doctors and even interns to undergo BLS and ACLS trainings.

Usually these trainings are 1-2 months long and these are provided by super specialists.

“These trainings are mandatory in any general specialty hospital. In other words, these are certifications which any doctor has to get, especially who is on duty in an emergency ward,” he added.

While BLS is a hands-on, first-aid training, which even a layman should be trained with, ACLS is restricted to health practitioners and is aimed at providing treatment options to patients recuperating from heart attacks.

Various observations show that mortality rate and cardiac arrest share a proportionate relationship. A study conducted at the Department of Intensive Care Unit, St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, shows that if the hospital staff is better trained to treat cardiac arrests, the mortality/morbidity rate in that hospital could be declined.

A senior consultant in the Cardiology Department told Kashmir Tribune that such trainings are held, but not on a regular basis, though ideally they should be imparted to every practising doctor.

“We have some provisions for such trainings but the hospital staff has to be engaged at regular intervals,” the consultant added.

Srinagar, August 26
Even as the Department of Posts (DoP), Jammu and Kashmir circle, has been involved in promoting a whole lot of sports and other activities, locals are complaining that much attention is not being paid towards the improvement of services at the post offices.

“Everyday we read reports of the DoP organising various programmes through the media but it should at the same time pay attention to the basic issues. I have often witnessed a heavy rush of people at the Lal Chowk post office where all the work from mailing speed posts to postal life insurance are done through a solitary counter,” said Majid Khan, a local resident.

“It is good that the DoP is actively involved in other activities but it should not ignore the services at post offices,” he added.

Another local resident, Jehangir Ahmad, said he had faced similar problems at the post office near Sanatnagar.

“I have to wait for a long time when I go to post office for some work as I usually see only one counter functioning. A lot of time gets wasted,” he said.

When contacted, Chief Postmaster-General J&K circle John Samuel said he would ensure that the people do not face problems on this count.

“There are three counters at the Lal Chowk post office and two at Sanatnagar. If reports that only one counter is functioning are true, I will ensure that the issue is resolved so that people are not put to inconvenience,” he said.

The DoP is currently organising an All-India Postal Football Tournament here while it had recently organised a series of School Stamp Shows (SSS). The DoP also holds regular events like “I Love my Post Office” campaign and “Philately Fun Run” in the Valley.

Srinagar, August 26
Governor NN Vohra today took stock of the pace of work on the execution of 240 MW Uri-II Hydel Power Project being constructed by the NHPC on Jehlum near the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri Baramulla.

On arrival at the NHPC Complex at Salamabad, the Governor and Usha Vohra, First Lady, were received by Harish Kumar, general manager, NHPC, Uri-II Hydel Project.

“Later, during the meeting with the management of the NHPC, the Governor was briefed by the general manager about the status of the completion of various components of the project, which included the dam, open channel, de-silting basin, head race tunnel, tail race tunnel and other salient features,” said an official spokesperson.

He said, “Kumar informed the Governor that the first 60 MW unit of this Hydel Project will be commissioned in January 2013, while the remaining three units of an equal capacity will be commissioned at monthly intervals thereafter.”

Interacting with the General Manager and other officers of the NHPC, the Governor said that electricity is the key to economic growth and rapid development.

The spokesperson said, “In this context, he expressed concern over the factors which had led to the delay in the commissioning of this vital project, causing denial of the much needed power to the state and a monthly loss of Rs 40 crore to the nation.”

The Governor also planted saplings of apple trees in the NHPC Complex.

Later, the Governor visited the underground Power House of the 480 MW Uri-I Hydel Project at Rajarwani which was commissioned in 1997. The Governor was briefed by NS Parameshwaran, Chief Engineer, NHPC, about the functioning of the Hydel Project. The Governor also inspected the functioning of MM Control Unit, computerised system and other components of the power house.

Anantnag, August 26
Locals in the Sallar block of the Bijbehara area in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district are pitching for upgrading their medical block to sub-district hospital.

The local residents said Minister for Health and medical Education Mangat Ram Sharma in 2008 had promised that the hospital would be upgraded soon; however no steps till date have been taken in this regard.

“Apart from the sub-district hospital, Bijbehara, there is no other hospital in the area within 40 km in Bijbehara-Sallar-Pahalgam belt,” said Fayaz Ahmad, a local resident.

He said this particular hospital is the oldest hospital in the area with four Primary health centers and 16 sub-centers.

“The hospital at present has only two doctors and a lady doctor who visits the hospital only three days a week,” said another resident.

According to the local residents, the hospital was exposed just a week back when a major road accident occurred. Five people lost their lives as the hospital was out of staff and basic amenities.

“We protested against the apathy of the health department and were once again pacified with never to be fulfilled promises by the authorities,” a local resident said.

The people living in far flung villages like Hamdani, Sheikhpora, Dahwatto, Veersaran and Lidroo suffer the most as they have to travel long distance for their treatment.

The people of the area demanded that the hospital should be equipped with latest equipment along with a sufficient staff.

The authorities however said that no such promise was made to the residents of the area.

“I am not aware of any promises made by the minister. A sub-district hospital has been sanctioned for Pahalgam and work on that will be started as soon as the funds are released,” said an official from the Health department in the district. 

Srinagar, August 26
The University of Kashmir is set to host its 18th annual convocation to award degrees, gold medals and certificates of merit to the varsity’s students and scholars.

Hundreds of students, including gold medalists, are registering themselves for the convocation, which would be held at the varsity’s Convocation Complex on September 27.

The convocation is held according to the provisions of the Kashmir University Act, 1969.

Governor NN Vohra, Chancellor of Kashmir University, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Pro- Chancellor of Kashmir University are likely to attend the convocation.

During the convocation, no item, cultural or otherwise is permitted under the rules. The convocation is an annual festival of the university and provides a memorable occasion to the students who have spent their time and energy in the university and worked hard to earn their degrees and awards.

Srinagar, August 26
The police today claimed to have arrested a dacoit who had stolen a rifle from a railway police personnel in January this year from central Kashmir’s Budgam district. The police said Barkat Ahmed Hajam, a resident of Pattan in Baramulla district, was arrested by the Srinagar police on Saturday during an investigation of a theft case.

“Hajam was arrested on Saturday for his role in a theft case. While questioning, he disclosed that he had also stolen a rifle from a railway police personnel from Mazbugh railway station in Budgam in January this year,” a police officer said.

“Hajam told us that he had kept the rifle at his house in Pattan. We raided his house and recovered the rifle,” he added.

A case of rifle snatching was registered in Budgam police station after a complaint by the railway police said that an unknown person had stolen a rifle after breaking a lock of a room of a railway police constable.

The police said in Srinagar that they were questioning Hajam to know his involvement in other cases of thefts and dacoity.

Srinagar, August 26
Hardline Hurriyat faction has released ‘charter of brotherhood’ - Meesaq-e-Ukhwat - a five-point agreement between scholars of various sects to end sectarian friction in Jammu and Kashmir.

The agreement is signed by 25 leading scholars of various sects and groups, including those heading Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadees, Jamaat-e-Islami and Karwan-e-Islami, which is a group of ‘Sufi’ scholars.

Separatists groups in Kashmir have been accusing the government of trying to stoke sectarian strife here and to counter it, the separatists have organised seminars and conferences in the past.

The agreement calls for “respect” for the people of other sects and asks the signatories to work towards unity of Muslims.

Speaking at the function, Hurriyat faction’s chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani accused the government of trying to change the demographics of the state and said those calling for “economic revolution are filling colours to Indian designs”.

Geelani also accused the government of sending “more than six lakh” pilgrims to the Amarnath cave in an attempt to “intimidate the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

“We are not against the yatra. But in 1990s, only 100 sadhus would go there, now this year 6.30 lakh pilgrims visited the cave … they want to convey to us that we are here and we are not going to leave Jammu and Kashmir,” Geelani said.

Geelani said the government wants to “overawe” Kashmiris by increasing the footprint of Amarnath pilgrims.

Without naming former separatist leader Sajad Lone, who has been campaigning for elections on the slogan of change, Geelani said those “calling for change” should know that there would be “no change until the system is not changed”.

Kupwara, August 26
The police has arrested an over ground worker (OGW) of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in Kupwara. The police claimed that Showkat Najar was involved in grenade throwing incident on the house of a sarpanch in Nagri village on August 1.

“Following a tip off, we arrested Najar last evening and recovered a grenade from his possession,” said a senior police official.

Sarpanch of Nagri village Mohd Rustum Dar escaped the grenade attack unhurt on August 1.

The official said, “His brother Manzoor Ahmad is also an OGW worker. The brothers’ stay at Sopore town and were active OGWs of banned militant outfit.” 

Srinagar, August 26
The North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, in collaboration with the Border Security Force (BSF) yesterday organised a cultural show for the jawans at the Humhama camp.

“The aim of the cultural programme to create awareness among BSF personnel and their families about the rich cultural heritage of India. It provided an excellent platform of entertainment to the BSF Jawans who hardly find any time for such activities,” said a BSF spokesperson.

He said, “The BSF Jawans and their families thoroughly enjoyed the spell bond cultural programme which showcased the flavours of our rich cultural heritage including rich cultural heritage of Jammu & Kashmir.”

A spokesperson of the NZCC Patiala said the organisation was conducting ‘Sanskritik yatras 2012-13’, comprising of folk artistes, folk singers and instrumentalists of 150 theatre groups representing all cultural regions of the country.

He said, “The artistes after performing at different places in Punjab and Jammu region would perform at Kashmir, Ladakh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.”

IG BSF Kashmir Frontier S S Tomar said such programmes would help the BSF jawans to understand the rich cultural heritage of different states, especially that of Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar, August 26
Union Secretary, Department of Land Resources Anita Choudhary visited several ongoing watershed management programmes in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district today.

“During her visit, she expressed satisfaction over the pace of the projects and also took an on-the-spot review of various haryali projects in the district,” an official said

The Union Secretary is on a tour of the state to assess the status of various centrally sponsored schemes, particularly in watershed management and haryali projects.

Choudhary assured the officers of maximum support from the government.

GH Shah, CEO, J&K, Haryali Project and other officers of watershed management and rural development accompanied the Union Secretary.

Earlier, the Union Secretary called on the Chief Secretary Madhav Lal and discussed the execution of these schemes in the state.