Jammu, October 9
Adulteration of petrol and diesel, both at points of sale and during transportation, is unabated with transporters and filling station employees restoring to pilferage of subsidised petroleum products and mixing it with petrol or diesel.

Transporters, particularly truckers and owners of long-route buses and minibuses, are using kerosene as the “common adulterant” in place of diesel as it helps them save nearly Rs 15 to Rs 18 per litre. The price of petrol and diesel in Jammu is Rs 71 and Rs 48 per litre respectively while the subsidised kerosene is available at around Rs 15 per litre.

Sources said the drivers of trucks, buses and mini-buses were operating in collusion with the officials of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD).

“Though the adulterated fuel spoils the engines of new generation vehicles, it is also a drain on the state exchequer in view of heavy losses on sales tax. Some filling station owners, particularly in rural belts, use kerosene as adulterant for diesel and mix naphtha with petrol to make more profit,” sources added.

Sources said the estimates showed that filling stations selling adulterated fuel earned anything between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per day.

“Several surveys had verified the ongoing adulteration but a concrete policy to check the malpractice is still awaited. The need of the hour is to heavily penalise the violators (both transporters and filling station owners) for using the subsidised kerosene and then mixing it with petrol or diesel,” an official said.

A minibus driver, on condition of anonymity, said, “The recent hike in diesel prices have severely hit the profit of transporters. We have left with no option but to use kerosene instead of diesel to increase our margin. A 20-litre container of kerosene costs just Rs 550 while the same quantity of diesel will cost Rs 960.”

Anan Sharma of All J&K Petroleum Dealers Association, however, claimed that there was no scope of adulteration in the state.

“No fuel adulteration is taking place at any of the petrol pumps. The transporters indulge in the malpractice. They either own kerosene depots or are doing it in rural areas because adulterants used in petroleum products are not allowed to enter from Lakhanpur, the gateway to the state,” he said.

Pervez Malik, CAPD director, Jammu, said the High Court had constituted a joint committee to conduct “periodical inspections” of mobile vans as well as filling stations in the state.

“The committee conducts verification on various petrol pumps, collects samples and dispatches these samples to a Central government laboratory where petrol and diesel are subjected to various tests to determine their quality,” he said.

Maintaining that reports about adulteration of fuel were “just a rumour”, Malik said there was no case where it had been established that subsidised kerosene oil was being used by transporters for operating vehicles because no survey had been conducted in this regard so far.

“To find out whether diesel or petrol has any adulterant and it needs expertise which is only available with oil companies. We (department) do not have any expertise to determine that,” Malik said.

Jammu, October 9
There was a total chaos at the Channi Himmat locality in Jammu today when hundreds of people seeking re-verification of their LPG documents descended on the distributors shop. It led to a complete traffic jam for more than an hour here.

The rush of consumers was such that it led to a minor argument between the consumers and the local distributor’s staff as it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to cope up with the confusion that prevailed.

Many consumers were seen even complaining about “improper information” given to them by the dealer.

“There is total chaos here. For over a week, people are visiting the office to get their cylinder but to no avail,” said Sumesh Sharma, a local resident.

Long queues were witnessed at delivery centers across the city with consumers made to wait for hours together to get their turn. It was particularly cumbersome to senior citizens and women.

“Domestic gas cylinders are being sold in black for Rs 1,000 each by creating artificial scarcity. The Consumers Council has condemned fresh verification process of already registered customers. It is a cumbersome process,” said Ashok Sharma, a retired government employee.

Nearly two lakh LPG connections in the state have been blocked by oil companies due to non-verification of connections after the policy to put a cap on the number of subsidised cylinders to six per household a year came into force.

Gareeb Das, another consumer, who has been using connection in the name of his father for over two decades, was also a harassed lot.

“My connection was abruptly blocked and now they are saying that the oil company will clear our case. Till then, they have denied us cylinder. What are we going to do,” said Gareeb Das.

Jammu, October 9
BJP activists today took out a protest march from party headquarters against the shortage of cooking gas in Jammu.

The protest after passing through the main bazars of Jammu city ended at the City Chowk where the effigy of the Congress-led UPA government was burnt. The party activists also shouted slogans against the UPA regime.

While addressing a massive gathering at the City Chowk, president Gupta said the decision to hike the price of cooking gas and bringing down the number of cylinder under subsidised rates have only added to the woes of the consumers. He said that people were facing hardships due to rise in food price and the hike in price of LPG. The fixing of the number of subsidised gas cylinders for domestic use to six and stopping the home delivery has only worsened the situation.

“The consumers are also harassed by various gas agencies on the name of verification of documents,” he said.

Vikram Randhawa, Parmodh Kapahi, Sanjay Baru, Ayodhya Gupta, Ramesh Sharma, Sangeeta Gupta, Dinesh Gupta, Priya Jral, Aseem Gupta, Rakesh Mishra and Pushpa Wazir among others took part in the protest march.

Jammu, October 9
Students of the Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Khoon, in Udhampur today blocked the national highway (Dhar road) for more than four hours seeking posting of adequate teaching staff at their school.

They were also joined by panches and sarpanches from the surrounding area.

The posts of principal and 19 teachers have been lying vacant at the school for the last two years.

GHSS, Khoon, is located on the district border of Udhampur and Kathua.

For the last two consecutive academic sessions, students have been suffering due to non-availability of staff, especially science teachers. This school was upgraded a few years back but the authorities failed to fill the requisite teaching vacancies.

“Our patience is running out. For the last two years, we have been agitating for deployment of teachers and principal but no action has been taken by the authorities so far,” RS Pathania, president of All Parties Tehsil Development Committee, said. Pathania said that poor students from this backward belt were bearing the brunt of the casual approach of the authorities. He further said the decision to block vehicular movement was taken as authorities were not giving serious consideration to repeated representations given by them from time to time.

The protest started from the GHSS, Khoon, and ended at the main chowk where it was addressed by local panchayat members as well.

Vehicular movement was severely disrupted on the Dhar road due to the protest. Senior officials of the administration reached the spot and assured the protesters their demands would be fulfilled soon. They assured that a principal and other staff would be deployed within 15 days. People lifted the dharna thereafter warning that they would take extreme step if their demands were met with in stipulated time.

Jammu, October 9
In a first-of-its-kind in the state, the Wildlife Department has identified 180 acres of land near Nagrota in Jammu to set up a zoo with all modern facilities available for its inmates.

Sources said the department had already speeded up the process for setting up the zoo.

Wildlife officials said that two zoos, one each for Jammu and Kashmir valley, had been sanctioned for which the land has been identified and the process was on to take the possession of the forest land from the department.

Though some animals have been kept in the Manda Wildlife Sanctuary but the department officials claim that it is not a full-fledged zoo. According to the new plan, a proper zoo with high-tech facilities will come up in the next eight years.

It was in November 2010 when Minister for Forests and Environment, Mian Altaf Ahmed, at a review meeting of functioning of the Wildlife and Forest departments had informed the department was mulling establishing zoos in both Jammu and Srinagar.

“We are planning to establish a zoo and have already identified land for the purpose. Our next step will be to get possession of the land. We are also inviting bids from various companies for zoo designing. Then we will engage zoo planers for the project,” said Tahir Shawl, Wildlife Warden, Jammu.

At present, the Wildlife Department is conserving many species in the Manda Wildlife Sanctuary but the number of species there is very less and hence it cannot be termed a full-fledged zoo. However, the department claims that a zoo needs to have animals from all the states of the country as per the guidelines.

“We will have animals representing all states and also all the species from our own state. We may also get animals from outside the country as well. For this, we will plan the zoo in a manner that enhances the survival conditions of animals. ,” Tahir Shawl said.

Jammu, October 9
Setting an example of courage, commitment and selflessness, ASHA worker Neelam Devi of Dhok Khalsa area in Akhnoor has saved the life of 22-year-old Jyoti Devi and her newborn child.

Jyoti had come for delivery at the sub-district hospital (SDH) in Akhnoor and she was facing some life-threatening complication.

“Jyoti developed some serious complication and it had become virtually impossible to save her life. Dr Manisha, consultant gynaecologist and the casualty medical officer, tried all life saving treatments but the patient had to be referred to the tertiary institute,” said a doctor.

soon found out that the only ambulance at the hospital was not available as it had gone to attend some other patient.

While Jyoti had lost all hope, it was Neelam who came to her rescue. She spent money from her personal savings and managed to take the woman in distress to the hospital.

Without wasting a moment, Neelam hired a private cab and arranged the referral of the patient to the SMGS Hospital.

Not only this, the AHSA worker also arranged blood for the Jyoti and alerted her relatives as well.

A timely blood transfusion saved the young mother who delivered a boy child.

Later, a support team reached the SMGS hospital from the office of Block Medical Officer (BMO), Akhnoor.

“Neelam has set an example before us all. Her act of responsibility, leadership and service should be highly appreciated,” said a senior State National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) official.

Jammu, October 9
Here is another shocker for the inflation-ridden common man. With autumn session of the state legislature ending tomorrow, the J&K government is mulling over to increase passenger fares of all kinds of private and government transport by 15 per cent in view of the latest increase in diesel prices.

Private transporters, including bus and minibus operators, have been demanding 50 per cent hike in the passenger fares, especially after increase in diesel prices by Rs 5 per litre.

Official sources said the government had decided to make a formal announcement after autumn session of the Assembly. Though the transporters refused to budge from their demand for 50 per cent hike in fares, sources said the Standing Committee headed by Financial Commissioner Mohammad Iqbal Khandey is likely to propose a “substantive hike” of 15 per cent in fares.

“The Standing Committee constituted by the government to look into the demands of private transporters held hectic meetings with the representatives of various bus and minibus unions from Kashmir and Jammu regions at the Civil Secretariat for two days. The three rounds of talks, however, failed to achieve any breakthrough with transporters remaining adamant on their demand for 50 per cent hike in fares,” sources added.

Sources said the Financial Commissioner later directed the Transport Commissioner, J&K, Mehraj Kakroo and other senior officials of the department to amicably settle the issue with transporters and make recommendations to the Standing Committee which would submit its report to the government.

“We are examining the demand of transporters to hike fares in view of the latest increase in diesel prices. We are yet to take a final decision in this regard,” Kakroo said.

Vijay Sharma, general secretary, All J&K Transport Welfare Association, said, “No final decision has been taken by the government but the meetings were held in a cordial atmosphere and we are hopeful for a substantive hike in fares. We have been asked to wait for some more days.”

Sharma said the transporters were suffering losses due to hike in diesel prices and it was becoming difficult for them to run their vehicles on existing passenger fares.

In September last year, the government had hiked the passenger fares of all private transport services. At that point of time, the government had increased the passenger fare of buses by 15 percent, auto-rickshaws 16 percent, mini-buses 14 percent and taxis 12 per cent.

Batote, October 9
A 20-year-old girl jumped into the Chenab in Ramban today. Police sources said the body of the girl, identified as Farida Bano Naik, of Geradi Neel in Banihal, could not be traced. Witnesses said the victim jumped into the Chenab from the Maitra bridge when she was on her way to the Ramban market in morning.

Sources said she had left her studies after passing Class XII and was undergoing treatment for depression.

In another case, as revealed by two accused Jitender Singh and Gurmeet Singh, the human skeleton was found from the Battery Chashma area near Anokhi Fall in Ramban today. The family members of the victim identified the same.

Jammu, October 9
Joint Action Committee (JAC) ETT colleges, Jammu Division, has sought the Chief Minister’s intervention for an early inquiry against the J&K State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) chairman.

The JAC claimed that the academic future of more than 20,000 students, pursuing Elementary Teachers Training (ETT) course in the state, was at stake due to prevailing chaos in the JKBOSE.

A delegation of Joint Action Committee ETT colleges, Jammu Division, which met the Divisional commissioner, Jammu, had submitted a memorandum before him for forwarding it to the Chief Minister.

The delegation had claimed that the BOSE was being governed by old Board Act of 1975 and the authorities at the helm of affairs had never took interest in making necessary Amendments for a smooth functioning.

It added that the unlimited No Objection Certificates (NOCs) were granted by the concerned Ministry for opening the new ETT institutes. The memorandum claimed that the top officials of the BOSE adopted an appeasement policy towards the Ministry and granted affiliations but never took any initiative for framing the much needed guidelines in order to streamline the ETT course till date.

The delegation said the former BOSE chairman, Deshbandhu Gupta, was keen to streamline the ETT course and he took some serious administrative steps but during the ETT academic session 2007-09, the present BOSE chairman, Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, started a special session 2007-09 after completion of the admission process.

They further claimed that Deshbandhu Gupta opposed the move but it was just the beginning of illegalities in the JKBOSE.

The delegation said the same thing was repeated again by the present BOSE chairman by starting backdoor admissions just a week before the commencing of first year exams of the ETT session 2008-10. They added that the BOSE chairman then leaked the information of backdoor admissions adding that most of the ETT institutes who had denied the confirmation of their late admitted students then moved to the High Court and got favourable directions in December 2010.

The memorandum further claimed that unwanted and deliberate delay was being made by the present BOSE chairman to settle the routine issues of ETT students like depositing of the examination fee.

The delegation appealed the state government to take stern measures saying that they would be left with no option but to stop BOSE chairman from entering his office premises after the durbar move.

Rajouri, October 9
Rashtriya Rifles Battalion distributed furniture to the Government Boys And Girls Higher Secondary School, Thanamandi, under the aegis of the Counter Insurgency Force (Romeo) yesterday. The ceremony was organised under the Operation Sadbhavana to improve the basic infrastructure of the school.

The programme was attended by the students, teachers, sarpanchs and panches, and the local people at the Government Boys and Girls Higher Secondary School, Thanamandi.

Principal Kulwant Singh said the support provided by the Army to the school would go a long way in earning goodwill of the school children and their parents.

Master Nasir Shamsed, Class XI student, expressed profound gratitude to the Army for extending their support in terms of providing furniture to the school.

Batote, October 9
A Srinagar-bound truck (JK03C-0195) caught fire following an LPG mini-cylinder blast when a cleaner was reportedly cooking meal inside the vehicle plying on the 2.5 km-long Jawahar Tunnel (JT) at Banihal on October 6.

Sources said the policemen usually overlooked the practice of cooking meals by the drivers inside the moving trucks and added that such incidents occurred frequently as the practice was going on with impunity.

“Carrying anything inflammable in any vehicle without permission is a crime and it is more dangerous to burn a stove in a moving vehicle,” said a traffic policeman.

Sources said three years back, a Jammu-bound moving truck caught fire outside the north portal of the JT, but with the timely action by a nearby fire brigade station staff a major tragedy was averted.

“We are left with no other option, due to less parking space and time, particularly on the long routes we have to cook our meals while moving. It is very difficult for the policeman to check every vehicle,” said a truck driver, Gurcharan Singh of Tringla, Batote.

“It is a crime but our priority right now is to check the life threatening violations of the traffic rules like rash, negligent or drunken driving, overloading and use of unfit vehicles,” retorted Shakeel Ahmed Beig, DIG, traffic police, Jammu,.

The police said out of the three persons injured in the truck blaze, truck cleaner Junaid Ahmed Sheikh was discharged yesterday from the district hospital, Anantnag. Driver Zahoor Ahmed Dar and passenger Zakir Ahmed, from Anantnag, suffered 15 per cent burn injuries and were undergoing treatment at the district hospital, the police said.

Three policemen of the JT fire brigade station, incharge (ASI) Gul Mohammed, havaldar Shamsudin and driver of the fire tender Ali Mohammed Saroo, had injured their legs when they slipped into the side drain while crawling inside the JT. Three of them were discharged on Sunday after the first aid, the police said.

Jammu, October 9
Inter-Collegiate and Departmental poster-making and clay-modelling competitions were conducted today by the Department of Students Welfare, University of Jammu, under the “Display Your Talent” event.

In the poster-making event, Bharti Sharma from Government Degree College, Akhnoor, bagged the first prize whereas Rahul Kumar from Government General Zorawar Singh Memorial Degree College, Reasi, and Rimpla Kumari from Post Graduate Department of Commerce, University of Jammu, were adjudged second and third respectively.

Bandana Devi from GDC, Akhnoor and Dechan Angmo from Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Jammu, were awarded the certificates of merit. The topics for the poster-making competition were ‘Social Rigidity Leads to Honour Killing’, ‘Avoid Accidents’, ‘Stop jumping the Traffic Lights’, ‘Drug Abuse’ and ‘Child Labour’ while the subjects for the clay-modelling event were ‘Father and Child’, ‘Any Game’ and ‘Any Geometrical Composition’.

TS Batra, Dr ML Sharma and Anil Saraf were the adjudicators for the poster-making event whereas the panel of experts for the clay-modelling competition included Ganesh K Sharma, Brij Pal Anand and Vikas Dogra.

In the clay-modelling event, Bharti Devi from Government College of Education, Jammu, was adjudged first whereas Ashima Sharma and Divya Bandral both from Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Jammu, bagged the second and third prize respectively.

Dr Sarika Manhas, Department of Home Science, was the teacher-in-charge for the poster-making event whereas Dr Lalit Sen from the Department of Computer Science and IT for the clay-modelling competition.

Jammu, October 9
Ramnagar Club defeated Housing Colony Club in the final by 3-2 to clinch the district volleyball championship organised by Udhampur District Volleyball Association at Mini Stadium, Udhampur today.

The set score read 25-12, 25-20, 27-25, 25-17 and 15-10.

The final was officiated by Ashok Kumar Sharma, Amit Sharma, Kuldeep Sharma and Gourav Sharma. District Development Commissioner, Udhampur, PK Pole was the chief guest.

Pole emphasised on the need of involving the youth in sports activities for their mental and physical growth. District president of the association Raj Guru lauded the efforts on part of the clubs in making the event a success.