The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Protesters lay siege to New Plot-Bantalab road
Traffic comes to halt for over two hours; accuse ERA and R&B department of neglecting the stretch in Jammu
Sumit Hakhoo

Jammu, August 29
Traders and residents today blocked the New Plot-Bantalab road for over two hours while protesting against the poor condition of the stretch which is the main artery of the area in Jammu city.

The protesters blamed the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA), National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and Roads and Building (R&B) department for the mess along the entire stretch.

Sources said that resentment has been brewing among people against the administration as most of the roads were in a bad shape, especially after the ERA and NBCC started sewerage laying work from Janipur to New Plot two months ago.

Members of the Beopar Mandal alleged that business community was suffering huge losses. They were later joined by the residents in their protest.

There was a total chaos on the road for hours as police stopped vehicles going towards Janipur at Roop Nagar naka at 9 am. Sarwal chowk witnessed a similar situation.

The motorists had to take alternative routes to reach their destinations.

Deputy Commissioner Sanjeev Verma had sent a team of officials to persuade the protesters to lift the blockade. It was only after the assurances by them that the protesters lifted the dharna at 11 am.

“For last two months, we are suffering huge loses as customers are avoiding to visit our shops keeping in mind the bad shape of the roads,” said Suresh Abrol, who runs an electronic showroom at Janipur.

Every day chaos prevails on the New Plot-Janipur road as hundreds of vehicles are caught in traffic snarls during peak hours for long. It is one of the busiest stretches in the city. It not only caters to the needs of local people but thousands of people from outside the city are also hit by traffic jams every day since the High Court also falls on the same road.

“Residents of several localities are suffering for months but the government agencies have been ignoring our pleas to repair roads. Our patience is running out now,” said Ashwani Sharma, a university student.

Sunil Dimple, a local leader, said a number of residents were suffering from breathing problems due to the dust that prevails in the area.

“Dust generated by plying of vehicles has created a major health hazard for the people and blacktopping should be done at the earliest,” Dimple said.

Jammu DC Sanjeev Verma said the agencies have been asked to explain the delay and immediate steps would be taken to blacktop the roads. “Blacktopping work will start soon,” Verma said.

At present, there are 21 roads having an aggregate length of 12 km- 9.6 km under the ERA and 2.4 km under NBCC, which are presently damaged and yet to be handed over to the Public Works Department (PWD) for blacktopping.

The ailing stretch and the mess

There was a total chaos on the road for hours as police stopped vehicles going towards Janipur at Roop Nagar naka at 9 am

Sarwal chowk also witnessed huge traffic snarls

The motorists had to take alternative routes to reach their destinations

Members of the Beopar Mandal said they suffered huge losses as customers would not come to their shops given the bad road condition

The ERA and NBCC started sewerage laying work from Janipur to New Plot two months ago as a result of which the road condition worsened

Surankote-Bafliaz road commuters’ eyesore
Darshan Bharti

Poonch, August 29
Travel on the 14-km-long Surankote-Bafliaz road, which connects the rest of Poonch district with the Mughal Road, is causing huge inconvenience to passengers as it is dotted with potholes at several places thus seeking an urgent repair.

The recent rainfall aggravated the situation further washing away the road patches in many areas. Motorists and commuters who commute on the ever-busy Mughal Road every day are perplexed as to why the main road which connects Poonch to the Valley via Mughal Road remains unattended by the authorities concerned.

There is a budget of Rs 650 crore for the alternate way on the Mughal Road that connects Jammu with the Valley.

The problem is further aggravated as neither the Border Road Organisation (BRO) nor the Surankote Municipal Committee are ready to carry out the repair work. Instead they keep passing on the buck on each other.

Many people while talking to The Tribune said the road near the sub-district hospital and Surankote police station had developed cracks but no one was ready to repair it despite repeated requests.

“The main road which connects Surankote with Mughal Road is in a shambles. The road is dotted with potholes and is causing tremendous hardships to commuters,” said Abdul Hamid, a local resident.

“It is very unfortunate that crores of rupees are being spent on the Mughal Road but the main road which connects Surankote with it is not repaired,” said Reecha Sharma, a teacher.

“The worst sufferers are patients who come to the sub-district hospital, Surankote, for medical treatment and have to travel on the rugged road. It is not only a huge inconvenience for people to travel on this but it also takes time to reach here,” said a Doctor at SDH, Surankote.

People of several villages connected to Surankote tehsil have raised issue of early start of repair work on the road many times. However, the BRO is yet to start the repair work in the district.

Many residents complained the frequent travellers had started developing serious backache and other health problems as the drivers hit these potholes on high speed many a times.

The commuters said that many mishaps occurred on the road while drivers were trying to avoid these potholes.

They also complained of dust pollution on the road saying it had also resulted in serious health complications among those allergic to dust. “The dust has also become a pollution source causing further inconvenience to the travellers,” they said.

The local residents and vehicle drivers accused the BRO of turning a blind eye to the dilapidated road condition. The BRO has completely failed to maintain the road, they said.

Poonch District Development Commissioner, Ajeet Kumar Sahu, said the administration had recently held a meeting with BRO officials and asked them to start repair work without delay.

“The required money for the renovation work has been sanctioned and the work will be initiated in a month,” Sahu said.

Former SRTC employees threaten to gherao Transport Minister’s house
Say ‘duped’ by management, dues not cleared for years
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
Over 500 former employees of the State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC), who have taken voluntary retirement, have warned to hold protest with their families outside the residence of the Transport Minister in Srinagar against delay in the release of their retirement arrears which are lying pending since 2008.

Under banner of All the J&KSRTC Volunteer Retirement Employees Association (VREA), former employees of the corporation have alleged that they were ‘duped’ by the management with promise that all the employees who will take voluntary retirement would have their all their dues, including 126 slabs of cost of living allowance (COLA), cleared.

The employees raised slogans against the managing director of the corporation and the Finance Department for delay in fulfilling the promises made to them.

Dev Raj Bali, president of the association, said the management had not fulfilled their demands, including release of COLA, pending arrears since 1999 and the 6th Pay Commission from 2006 onwards as assured earlier.

Bali alleged the SRTC management had wrongly represented their case before the finance department which was still pending for the last two years.

“The Finance Department is not clearing the liabilities whereas the state government has given the package to VRS employees to clear our leave salary, gratuity, ex-gratia grant and pending arrears,” VREA said.

The association has demanded a vigilance probe into the alleged misuse of the crores of rupees released for clearing the COLA slabs of employees. “They trapped us first and assured that money will be cleared on time but only few people have got their dues cleared,” said DN Sharma, another former employee.

The corporation had nearly 4,400 employees who were not getting salaries for months as the corporation had gone virtually bankrupt due to mounting losses. The government had introduced the VRS scheme to shed the extra load on the limited financial resources of the state-run corporation.

In the recent past, the SRTC had introduced nearly 150 new vehicles to bring it back on the track but in absence of a well-regulated monitoring system even these vehicles have become burdensome for the corporation.

Jammu fast becoming home for the Pandit elderly
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
Two decades after they migrated from the Valley and as their youth move out of the state for better future prospects, Jammu has virtually become an old age home for the elderly people of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Most of them are living an isolated life in absence of their children.

The retired and elderly people who have spent most of their lifetime in Kashmir find it very difficult to adjust with their children mostly living in metropolitan cities in the different parts of India.

Though it has been decades that they migrated out of the Valley, they are yet to come in terms with the heat of the plains. They still have a strong emotional attachment with their native places and people over there regardless of the extremist rhetoric.

Arving Gigoo, an eminent scholar and critic, while talking to The Tribune, said, “We cannot blame the youth of the community for this. They have to go out and search for a better future. Whatever we have suffered has made us aware about the importance of job security. Also the elderly people who were born and brought up in Kashmir are so attached to their roots that they cannot adjust anywhere else.”

“I know so many friends of mine younger to me who have a great difficulty living in metro cities. People cannot be blamed for anything,” he added.

There are many colonies dominated by the Kashmiri Pandits where parents live alone while their children are either studying in Maharashtra, Haryana or other parts of the country or earning their livelihood across the globe.

Chaman Lal Raina, a retired government teacher, said, “My son and daughter-in-law work in Delhi and they are too busy with their jobs to visit us often. I and my wife visit them but it gets difficult for us to adjust in a society with hardly anybody known to us.”

“In Jammu, we at least have many relatives and friends with whom we can have a good social life. So we neither compel our children to visit us often nor do we go their often,” he added.

Couple jumps into Chenab
Devinder Thakur

Katra, August 29
In what appears to be a tragic end to a love story, a young couple jumped into the Chenab river this evening at the Bharadhari bridge in Reasi. The deceased have been identified as Hardev Singh (25), a resident of Dhubighali (Udhampur) and Kajal (16), a resident of Salal. The latter was a student of Class 10.

The police said Hardev and Kajal arrived at the bridge on a scooter. When the couple jumped, the passers-by raised an alarm after which some persons made futile attempts to save them.

Police launched a search operation for which expert divers were pressed into service but the bodies were yet to be recovered when the reports last came in.

Drug peddlers’ gang busted, six arrested

Jammu, August 29
The Ramban police today claimed to have busted a gang of drug smugglers during a naka checking near the Shan Palace area of the district. Police sources said that six persons were arrested in this connection. Two vehicles and 17 kg poppy straw were recovered from their possession.

The accused have been identified as Raies Ahmed, Irshad Ahmed and Adil Ahmed, all residents of Kulgam along with Muzaffar Ahmed, Khurshid Ahmed and Sabzar Ahmed of Qazugund.

Reports said the police got a tip-off that a gang of drug smugglers was active in the Ramban-Batote area, which was transporting drugs from Kashmir to the district. Following this, the police put a naka on the national highway near Shan Palace, Ramban. During checking, the police team arrested three persons carrying huge quantity of poppy straw in a Tata Magic (registration number 2364/JK18) from the Valley to Batote. Following this, the police team arrested three more persons of the same gang who were traveling in a Tata Sumo (registration number 6751/JK03B) from Kashmir to Batote for the same purpose. — TNS

Drugs and food dept challans 25 vendors

Jammu, August 29
The Drugs and Food Control Organisation has challaned 25 vendors who were found selling tobacco products in the vicinity of educational institutions. The spokesperson of the body said they carried out a drive to review the compliance of Section 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.

During the drive, 25 vendors were found indulging in the sale of tobacco products including khaini and gutka near educational institutions in Satwari, Kachi chowni, Exchange Road and Chowk Chabutra areas. The erring vendors were fined Rs 3,400 each. — TNS

‘Corruption plagues UPA regime’
BJYM stages protest against the coal mines scam
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
Activists of the Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today staged a protest against the Congress-led UPA government in Centre for indulging in rampant corruption. The BJYM’s protest was aimed at highlighting recent coal mines scam.

The protest rally, which started from Dogra Chowk, was led by Munish Sharma, state president of the BJYM, in which activists shouted slogans against the UPA government.

Addressing the rally, Munish Sharma said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was fully involved in the coal scam as coal ministry was working under his office and a large number of coal mines were allotted without inviting competitive bids.

“The coal mine scam is uptil now the mother of all scams and has been detected by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The lame excuses and explanations given by the Congress and PM Manmohan Singh alongside finding fault with the CAG could not diminish the enormity of their wrongdoings,” BJYM leader said.

Sharma said that in the state the Congress in partnership with the National Conference was pursuing the same agenda of enjoying power and was involved in corruption and looting public exchequer. Among those who participated in the rally were Sanjay Baru, Vijay Choudary, Surinder Choudhary, Karan Sharma, Ajay Vaid, Arjun Sharma, Rajeshwar Singh, Makson Tickoo, Chetan Mehram, Bandeep Kumar, Chetan Manhas, Rinku Chouhan, Vishal Nishal, Sunil Sharma, Manav Mahajan, Sunil Kumar, Gourav Manjotra, Kuldeep Mattoo, Sagar, Avinash, Pawan Singh, Avikash Sharma, Rajendra Singh, Ashwani Sharma, Rahul Gupta and others.

Sword of Damocles hangs over schoolchildren, teachers
MC school building was declared unsafe 18 months ago, yet to be vacated
Devinder Thakur

Students sit on the floor in a classroom with damp walls.

Katra, August 29
The Katra Municipal Committee (MC) is exposing hundreds of children to a great risk each day by making them attend classes in their rickety little school. From deep cracks in the classroom walls to broken tin roofs to a weakening foundation, the MC is answerable for a lot of things.

What adds to the insolence on the part of the MC is that the building was declared unsafe in a survey one-and-a-half-year back but the civic body is yet to vacate the building

The location of the school building, being right behind the MC office, in itself is enough to constantly remind the officials about the work to be done. By not taking the obvious cue, the civic body, it seems, has turned a blind eye to the safety of the schoolchildren.

The building, which is almost in a state of shambles, requires immediate repair. “The issue had been flagged in the District Development Board meeting but to no avail," says Subhash Sharma, a Katra resident. Like Subhash, many locals fear that things would change only after a tragedy takes place.

The teachers say they cannot even put up informative charts on the walls as these get damaged. All the colorful pictures that once adorned the walls have been taken off. Some of the windows, which are broken, are covered with cardboards to ensure that the children stay protected from the vagaries of weather. Lack of furniture also adds to the woes of the students and teachers. About 40 to 50 students are cramped inside a small room and are forced to sit on mats spread on the floor. The condition gets worse in monsoon. Teachers say during the rains, the water has to be constantly drained out for the school to function normally.

The Chief Education Officer, Reasi, Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, said it had been decided that the building would be upgraded and if possible, a new building would be constructed. He said they were working on the budgetary provisions for this.

Action demanded against persons misleading sportspersons
Vikas Sharma/TNS

Jammu, August 29
After a startling revelation by the Taekwondo Federation of India (TFI) that the recently concluded ‘4th National Championship’, in which the state sportspersons won medals, was bogus, parents of sportspersons of other disciplines appealed to the authorities to take strict action against the organisers of the championship.

The Tribune in a report on August 29 stated that the TFI had claimed that the 4th national championship in Mumbai was conducted without its approval, rendering it bogus. The federation had stated that the winners of this championship could not participate in the meets conducted by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) and that they could not avail government benefits as the medals were not genuine.

“We are stunned by this sensational disclosure by the TFI that the national championship was bogus and the medals won by the state team will not be considered for getting government jobs,” said one of the parents.

The letter written by the TFI to the J&K Taekwondo Association (JKTA) was not only an eye opener for the association but also for the sportspersons who need to be on their guard in the future so they’re not befooled, said a parent of another sportsperson. “We request the concerned authorities to deal firmly with these individuals who are playing with the future of innocent sportspersons. Today, it is Taekwondo, tomorrow, it could be any other sport so the the authorities need to take necessary steps to prevent it in the future,” he opined.

“Though the culprits may be very few in number, they have made a mockery of the entire sports fraternity in the state by involving high profile persons,” another concerned parent said. “Every parent wants his ward to excel in whatever game he choses. Such bogus national championships bring embarrassment not only for the participants but also the state authorities,” he said. It is pertinent to mention here that the Sports Council had warned the parents that they should not allow their wards to compete in unauthorised championships.

EFFORTS WASTED

The Taekwondo Federation of India claimed that the ‘4th national championship’ in Mumbai was conducted without its approval, rendering it bogus. The federation stated that the winners of this championship could not participate in the meets conducted by the World Taekwondo Federation and the Asian Taekwondo Union and that they could not avail government benefits as the medals were not genuine.

Double delight for Bhalwal Zone
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
The Bhalwal Zone clinched both the U-19 boys’ Kho-Kho and Kabaddi titles today in the ongoing District Level Inter-Zonal Tournament being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports at Government Higher Secondary School.

In the Kho-Kho finals, the Bhalwal got the better of the Akhnoor by 9 points while in the Kabaddi finals, the Bhalwal toppled the Akhnoor by 10 points to bag the top honours. In the Volleyball U-19 boys’ match, the Khour team had the last laugh against the Arnia team by 2-0 to win the title.

Meanwhile, the inter-school competitions of Jammu district in the disciplines of basketball and handball for the U-19 boys’ and girls’ categories were also held at the Mini Stadium in the Parade Ground.

In the basketball U-19 boys’ finals, the MHAC Nagbani spanked the KC Public School by 40-32 while in the U-19 girls’ finals, the MHAC Nagbani beat the Army Public School, Domana, by 38-17.

In the handball U-19 boys, the BSF Paloura got the better of the Heritage Public by 6-3 to lift the title while in the U-19 girls’ category, the Presentation Convent scripted the win against the BSF Paloura by a solitary goal.

In the handball U-17 girls’ match, the Heritage School defeated the New Era Environmental School by 3-1 and in the U-14 handball girls’ match, the Presentation Convent subdued the Heritage School by 3-0 goals.

JK speedball team win c’ship in HP
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
The J&K speedball team won the overall championship trophy in the All India Junior Speedball Championship held in Himachal Pardesh. In all, about 300 players from 12 states of the country participated in the tournament. The Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh teams bagged the second and third spot respectively.

Sahil Janjua was declared the best player of the championship and was selected for the 27th World Speedball Championship to be held in Egypt. Rhea Tikku fetched the bronze in the Championship.

The winners were Uditi Verma, Sakshi Vaid, Rhea Tikku, Zulfkar Malik, Sugandh Mehta, Manthan Pandoo, Harsh Sharma, Mrinank Mahajan, Shrea Sharma, Pranay Gupta, Harshvardhan Singh, Shouria Vardhan Billowria, Ansh Dar, Parth Gadoo, Manav Jamwal, Hardik Pandita, Himanshu Bhat, Satvik Gupta, Chetanjeet Singh, Archit Saroha, Sarthak Luthra and Balraj Kumar.

Vipul defends men’s singles badminton title
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
Reigning badminton champion Vipul Saini defended his men’s singles title today by beating Sahil Verma by 21-7, 21-10 in the summit showdown of the 27th Jammu District Badminton Championship, which was played at the Indoor Complex in the MA Stadium here.

In the men’s doubles title clash, duo Vipul Saini and Sahil Verma got the better of Vasu and Aman by 21-14, 21-11 to bag the top honours.

Defending champion Ramesh Sharma dispatched Anil Gurkha by 21-19, 23-21 to lift the veteran title while in the U-19 boys’ doubles summit showdown, Sunil and Munish outplayed Shantul and Arjun by 21-17, 21-18 to win the title.

The U-13 girls’ singles title went to Naman who defeated Peehushi in the finals. In the U-13 girls’ doubles, Naman and Peehushi subdued Shveta and Mridila Rahote.

In the U-17 girls’ singles, Mitakshra toppled Rupal to clinch the title while in the doubles, Subhagani and Mitakshra got the better of Sneha and Rupal to claim the trophy.

The U-19 girls’ singles title went to Prabjot, who toppled Keerat Preet by 21-15, 21-14. In the U-19 girls’ doubles final, Dikha and Prabjot outdid Rupal and Mitakshra by 21-15, 21-5.

Minister for Youth Services and Sports RS Chib, who was the chief guest on the valedictory function, distributed prizes among the winners and the runner-up shuttlers.

The Championship was organised by the Jammu District Badminton Association under the aegis of the Jammu and Kashmir Badminton Association.

Jammu beat Poonch in hockey
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
The Jammu district team took advantage of the poor defense of the Poonch team to record a thumping 5-1 win in the summit clash, clinching the Divisional Level Inter-District Jawahar Lal Nehru Hockey Championship, at the KK Hakoo Stadium here.

The Jammu team dominated the match from the beginning by slamming two goals in the first 20 minutes.

Gurjot Singh then struck in the 42nd minute to make it 3-1 in favour of the Jammu team. Mandeep Singh and Davinder Singh scored two more goals in 46th and 58th minutes respectively to seal the win.

The winners will represent the Jammu division in the upcoming Inter-Division tournament. The matches were officiated by Amarjeet Singh, Harvinder Singh, Kulbir Singh, Jagjeet Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Mandeep Singh.

Badminton team leaves for nationals
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 29
A 19-member state badminton team led by Rahul Sharma left for Bhilwara in Rajasthan to participate in the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship, which is to be held from August 31 to September 4.

The team was selected by the J&K Badminton Association through trials, which were conducted prior to the Jammu District meet.

Absconder nabbed
Our Correspondent

Batote, August 29
An absconder, who was evading arrest in an accident case for over six years, was today remanded in the judicial custody till September 12 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ramban, after he was arrested by the Ramban Police from Nanak Nagar in Jammu yesterday.

The accused identified as Hardeep Singh was allegedly charged of crime under 279/304-A, RPC, and 140/192, 156/192, 66/192 Motor Vehicle Act in a case under FIR NO. 96/2004 in the Ramban police Station. Warrants were issued against him on June 1, 2006. The accused was arrested after the police received a tip-off.