Srinagar, November 19
Four major tehsils of central Kashmir and Budgam district, including Tangmarg, Beerwah, Khag and Magam, are reeling under acute power shortage due to non-generation of power from a 50 MW Ahmad Pora grid station, which was inaugurated a year ago by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Despite all modalities having been worked out, the power grid station, constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore, has been rendered useless due to a stand-off between a local villager and the Power Development Department (PDD).

As per reports, the villager has refused to let the main power supply line through his fields from Northern grid, which has resulted in the power failure to 50 villages.

More than 50,000 people living in four tehsils are aghast over the PDD’s utter failure in resolving the issue, which has made them suffer in harsh winters.

“We staged many demonstrations in front of the PDD office in Srinagar, outside the civil secretariat and the State Legislative Assembly when it was in session. But, the state government has not solved our problems. It is ironical that despite Chief Minister assuring us of smooth power supply from the grid station, it has taken one year for the department to solve a small dispute with a landowner,” said Shafat Ahmad, a resident of Beerwah.

Muzaffar Matoo, chief engineer, PDD, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

With the onset of winters, power woes in the Valley grow manifold, especially in the far-off areas. The state government had, therefore, taken up construction of various power grid station projects to address this issue. However, hassles faced by the PDD in repair and consistent operation of big and mini power grid stations have worsened the power scenario in the state.

Kupwara, November 19
Reckless driving and overloading of passenger vehicles, mostly Tata Sumos, has led to increase in number of accidents on the Karnah-Kupwara road for the past few years.

The bordering area of Karnah in the North Kashmir’s Kupwara district, having a population of around 4 lakh, is about 75 km from the Kupwara town. Expressing concern over the increasing number of accidents, passengers said the drivers were resorting to overloading and reckless driving on the hilly road leading to increased number of accidents.

They said in the absence of constant monitoring by the traffic policemen, the drivers were openly flouting traffic rules to make easy money. “They risk the lives of passengers and allow at least 10 to 12 passengers to board the Sumo vehicles on the hilly road. They often indulge in overtaking and reckless driving,” said Rehman Qureshi of Khodpora Tangdhar.

According to Sumo drivers in Kupwara, as many as 20 to 25 vehicles ferry passengers to and fro on the Karnah-Kupwara road. The road witnesses good rush of traffic as vegetables and other commodities, including ration, are loaded on the trucks and transported to the bordering area.

Four people, including three of a family, were killed in an accident on the Karnah-Kupwara road on October 6, when an Alto car, bearing registration number JK09-6915, skidded off the road and fell into a 400-metre-deep gorge. The police retrieved the bodies from the gorge a week after the accident had happened.

In another major accident, at least eight persons were killed and nine others were injured on September 17, when driver of a passenger vehicle failed to negotiate a sharp curve and fell in deep gorge into Cobra Nallah near the Sadhna pass.

According to the police figures, at least 13 accidents have occurred on the Karnah-Kupwara road from January to October in which 15 persons were killed and as many as 23 were injured.

The passengers have appealed the district administration, including the Police Department, to keep a check on the overloading of the passenger vehicles and punish the wrong doers.

There has been a surge in road accidents across the Valley during past two years. As per the official figures, at least 1,070 persons died in the road accidents in 2011. A total of around 7,059 accident cases were registered in the year, leaving 10,700 persons injured in both divisions of the state.

Srinagar, November 19
The Gulmarg resort in north Kashmir today received season’s first snowfall with the night temperature there falling six degrees below the freezing point even as rest of the region had a respite from shivering cold.

Gulmarg had received two inches of snow till morning when the amount of fall was last recorded, an official of the state Meteorological department said. The snow was falling intermittently through the day at Gulmarg. This is the first snowfall in the meadows of Gulmarg, a famed tourist resort where snow had fallen on the nearby mountains earlier in the month.

The resort also witnessed a freezing night with minimum temperature falling to minus 6 degrees Celsius, the official said. The day temperature in Gulmarg was recorded at 6 degrees Celsius.

Apart from Gulmarg, only Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir had a freezing night with temperature falling to minus 2 degrees Celsius.

In the city here, residents received a respite from shivering cold as the minimum temperature remained stuck at 4.2 degrees Celsius.

Mercury around the city has shown a considerable rise in the past 48 hours from the low of minus 1 degree which was recorded earlier last week.

The day temperature in the city was recorded at 14.8 degrees Celsius, which is nearly a degree down from the normal temperature for this time of the year, the official said.

In Leh town of remote Ladakh region, mercury fell to minus 7 degrees Celsius overnight and the day temperature there was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius.

In the adjoining Kargil district in Ladakh region, the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, the official said. The maximum temperature in Kargil was recorded at 8.8 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Ladakh region usually hovers many degrees below the freezing point in winter months, sometimes falling down to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. The region remains cut off from the rest of the state as heavy snow along the Srinagar-Leh road shuts the access to the mountainous Ladakh.

The minimum temperature in frontier Kupwara town in north Kashmir was recorded 2.3 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature in the south Kashmir’s Qazigund town was recorded at a freezing 4 degrees Celsius, the official said.

The Kashmir valley is gearing up for a harsh winter which is set to officially begin next month. People have already switched to their winter wear to escape the shivering evening cold.

The state Meteorological department has forecast dry weather over the region for the next 24 hours.

Anantnag, November 19
People associated with the Kashmir’s age-old folk art form, ‘Bhand-e-Pather’, rue that the art form is on the verge of extinction, courtesy lack of attention from the government and declining interest in youth towards it.

The artistes say it may be a matter of time when ‘Bhand-e-Pather’ will remain confined to books.

They say the gradual disengagement of the younger generation of the families associated with this art since ages is heart-breaking. However, there are reasons for this younger generation for not engaging themselves with this art form.

“My son does’t want to be associated with this art and I can’t force him because it has fetched me nothing more than accolades,” said Gul Muhammad Bhagat, a renowned artiste from south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

He says there was a time when they performed in villages and thrived on whatever people gave them, but the important thing was they were not dependent on anybody.

“The times have changed now and we have been pushed to the wall. We remain dependent on shows organised by TV channels or media,” he says.

The biggest problem with this show business these days, Bhagat says, is the commission-hungry middlemen.

“These middlemen are least bothered about the preservation of culture. All they know is how to mint money and that’s what they are doing,” said Bhagat.

Amid all this chaos, the artistes say, official apathy towards restoring the past glory of Kashmiri culture has been detrimental for this dying art form.

“The only favour the authorities have done for us so far is that they have built an open-air theatre in Akingam village of Anantnag district. However, it’s doing us no good because not only the people but artistes too are losing interest,” said another artist.

He said the government needs to take some immediate steps for the restoration of this folk art so that the younger generation comes forward and embraces it as their own.

Meanwhile, the authorities say they are doing their bit in keeping the flame burning, “I can’t talk on behalf of other organisers but when we organise a show for the Bhands, we make sure that there are no middlemen,” said Khalid Bashir, secretary, Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.

He said the Academy regularly organises shows and other events to ensure that this folk art retains its past glory and popularity.

Srinagar, November 19
Six persons were injured in two separate road accidents in Kashmir valley, the police said.

A passenger cab, on the way from Frisal to Yaripora in south Kashmir, rammed into a shop near SS Bugh resulting in injuries to five persons, the police said.

The police said all the injured had been shifted to hospital.

In north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, a 35-year-old man was injured when he was hit by a car at Khwaja Bagh. The injured man, identified as Bahawa, a resident of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, was shifted to District Hospital, Baramulla, where he was being treated, the police said.

The cases had been registered in both the cases.

Srinagar, November 19
A 40-year-old man was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his house in Leh district, the police said here.

Wangdus, a resident of Saspol area of Leh district, was found dead at his residence last night, a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said Wangdus was found dead under mysterious circumstances. The police has initiated investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC to determine the cause and circumstances of his death. A post-mortem examination of the deceased has been conducted, the spokesman added.

Srinagar, November 19
Srinagar is set to host an international bear workshop this week. Sixty international experts would discuss measures to address the bear conflict issue that is common in the Valley.

"The workshop will look at the measures where the issues related to bear conservation could be addressed," Mansoor Nabi Sofi, assistant project officer, Wild Species Division, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) told the Tribune.

However, Sofi said deforestation and overgrazing by cattle led to bears venturing into the civilian areas, therefore, causing bear-human conflict.

While the day-long workshop would be held here on November 22, the delegates would then proceed to New Delhi for a conference on conservation issues of bears from November 25 to November 30.

The workshop in the summer capital is jointly being organised by the WTI and Department of Wildlife (Protection), J&K.

"The workshop is being organised to address the bear conflict in the state which has seen an unprecedented increase in the last few years. The workshop will bring together the global, national and state-level experts, who will deliberate to bring out an action plan, which will go a long way in helping to mitigate the conflict," said Rahul Kaul, senior director and senior advisor, Science, WTI.

It would also highlight the opportunities and challenges of collaboration and information exchange between people working in research, conservation and husbandry of bears, whether captive or free-ranging, he said.

Stating that research works on bears in India was still at its infancy in many states, Kaul said a compilation of the latest information on the status and conservation of the bears, therefore, would be of a great significance in influencing policy decisions for enhancing the protection and management of the bears.

He said four out of the eight species of the bears were found in India and that conservation of bears faced serious problems due to forest degradation, shortage of food resources, poaching and trade of their body parts, besides, increased human-bear conflicts.

Srinagar, November 19
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Union Minister of State for Tourism K Chiranjeevi are expected to attend a day-long seminar on tourism here tomorrow.

Kashmir Hotels and Restaurants Owners Federation (KHAROF) president Faiz Bakshi said Azad and Chiranjeevi had agreed to attend a seminar titled ‘Sustainable Tourism-Environment and Infrastructure’ at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC).

He said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will preside over the seminar that is being jointly organised by the KHAROF and the Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHARA).

He said the seminar was being organised to ensure that environment and local culture were protected in the Valley.

KHARA president Showkat Chowdhary said the seminar was historic as the hoteliers’ associations were jointly organising the seminar on a grand scale on their own.

He said the seminar would look at the preparations for welcoming tourists as Kashmir has been witnessing a booming tourist footfall for the past two years.

Anantnag, November 19
While a blanket ban on construction at the world famous tourist resort, Pahalgam, continues to be in force; some hoteliers have shifted their focus to the peripheries of Pahalgam.

Sources said the new hotels and huts were mushrooming in the peripheries, like the ones around the Rafting Point at Yannar.

“Newer places are being discovered by the tourism players. Yannar, Batkoot and Ganeshpora are some of the places where the focus of the hoteliers has been shifted,” said an hotelier.

While some people called it a welcome step in the development perspective, others said there should be some checks before the tourism players’ started exploring the new destinations.

“Given the fact these places lie in close proximity with the Lidder river, the authorities should remain conservative while allowing people to carry on the constructions in these places,” said Riyaz Ahmad, an environmentalist.

He said the waste produced in these hotels and huts flows down to the Lidder river. “The purpose of a ban on construction in Pahalgam was to save the environment. However, with these constructions mushrooming, I don’t see the purpose of the ban being fulfilled,” said Ahmad.

However, some people felt that the constructions would help in the employment generation and at the same time more tourists could be catered at a given time.

“The huge tourist inflow that the Valley has been receiving over the last couple of years is an indication that we should enhance the infrastructure at our favoured tourist destinations,” said another hotelier.

The authorities, meanwhile, maintained even though they understood the pros and cons of the new constructions, there was nothing they could do at the moment.

“We can only keep a check and not let them contaminate their surroundings. However, nothing can be done to stop the constructions as of now,” said an official of the district administration, on the basis of anonymity. 

Srinagar, November 19
A three-day national seminar on ‘Science for shaping the future of India- Faunal diversity challenges and opportunities-’ organised by the PG Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, in collaboration with the Indian Science Congress Association, began at Gandhi Bhawan Hall of the Kashmir University today.

Prof G Mustafa Shah, seminar president and Dean faculty of biological sciences informed that the papers to be presented during the three-day were expected to be put in innovative research techniques and ideas to deal with the emerging challenges.

Dr Mustafa informed that about 150 scientists and researchers from all over the country were participating in the seminar and sharing their research experience and knowledge .

Chief Guest Abdul Ghani Malik, Minister for Higher Education, Labour and Employment said that human population explosion and the decline in wildlife flora and fauna was a global problem and rapid technological development made by man had resulted in irreparable loss to the wildlife.

He said several steps had been taken for the conservation of the wildlife -plants and animals- which includes framing and implementation of the laws, increase in the protected area network, creation of national parks, sanctuaries biosphere reserves and captive breeding but in spite of all these steps wildlife continued to suffer .

Hoping that the seminar would provide a platform for the scientists to disseminate their research findings, Malik said the recommendations from the seminar would prove beneficial in the long run for devising management and conservation strategies.

Dean Academic affairs Prof AM Shah termed the theme as innovative. He said it was through the innovative research that the students and scholars could be a part of the development process.

University of Kashmir Registrar Prof Zafar Ahmad Reshi called for the establishment of a bio-diversity board in the state which he said would go a long way in safeguarding the bio-diversity of the state.

Indian Science Congress Association general secretary Vijay Laxmi Saxena said the organisation was there to advance and promote the cause of Science in India. Dr BM Arora, president, Association of Indian Zoo And Wildlife Veterinaries, Prof MK Jyoti, convener, Indian Science Congress Association ,Prof DC Gautam from the HP University, Shimla, Prof KK Sharma from the Jammu university were present on the occasion. 

Srinagar, November 19
The protests against Israel for launching an aerial attack on Gaza continued for the second consecutive day here today. The latest protest was held on today by a group of lawyers at the main court complex in the city.

The demonstrating lawyers raised slogans against Israel and the United States as they marched from the court complex to the outer road. They later set three Israeli flags on fire.

“This is a protest against the aggression that is being meted out against our Palestinian brothers who are suffering for the past six decades. We condemn the illegal actions of the Israeli state,” one of the protesting lawyer said.

Yesterday, members of the women separatist group, Muslim Khwateen Markaz, also staged a protest against Israel and burnt their flags.

Later in the evening, a group of youth who assembled near Ghanta Ghar in the Lal Chowk area held a solidarity candlelight vigil in support of people of Gaza. The protest was organised on the social networking website Facebook.

“We will light candles for our brothers and sisters in Gaza who are being mercilessly bombed by the apartheid Israel. This is the least we can do for them. We are with them, show it to the world,” Facebook event ‘Light a candle in solidarity for Gaza’ said in the protest invite.

A Kashmiri politico-religious group, Jamaat-e-Islami, has also denounced the Israeli attack on Gaza.

Jammu, November 19
Young Heroes Football Club defeated Vijay Football Club in the summit showdown by two goals to nil to win the Senior Division League Football Tournament (2010-11). The Jammu Kashmir Football Association (JKFA), Jammu Wing, organised the tournament at Government Gandhi Memorial Football Ground here today.

Young Heroes dominated the proceedings from the start with their decisive moves. The chief guest, K Rajendra, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), gave away trophies. DIG Johny Williams and Surinder Singh Bunty, Resident Secretary, Jammu Kashmir Football Association, besides other senior police officers and members of the association were present.