Jammu, January 22
With nearly 400 tonnes of seized polythene in godowns, the Pollution Control Board (PCB) is to take a final decision on its disposal at its board meeting on February 28. Since Jammu and Kashmir banned the use of polythene carry bags in 2009, the government has failed to find any suitable way to dispose of the material.

Sources said that in the past four years, Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and Pollution Control Board (PCB) - two prime agencies enforcing the ban - have been at loggerheads over disposal of seized polythene bags with quintals of confiscated material rotting in godowns.

The state government, as per SRO-182 (ban on carrying polythene bags) under the Non-Biodegradable Material (Management, Handling, and Disposal) Act 2007, in 2009, and in pursuance of its SRO 122 issued later, delegates powers to different authorities to punish the offenders. However, no alternative method was employed for disposal of the material.

A senior officer from the board said that a possible option on which there could be general consensus could be to sell the material in godowns to plastic manufacturing units or destroy it in waste disposal units outside the state.

“So far, both options are open, but the final decision will be taken at the board meeting on February 28. It has become important to find ways to dispose of the material,” said PCB chairman Lal Chand.

He said they have already studied methods in other parts of the country, which will also be discussed at the meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that civic authorities are launching anti-polythene drive routinely in Jammu and the seized material is being stored at various places, which has become a burden for officials.

“They don’t have enough space to store it as keeping in view the drive launched by the authorities, they need separate huge space to store it. There is need to find an appropriate solution to the problem,” said an official.

Earlier, the board had identified eight kanals of land in Samba district about five years back to convert it into “landfill site” but the project could not take a practical shape due to red tapism. Jammu was a major centre of polythene production, with nearly 50 manufacturing units engaged in its production.

An emergence fire service vehicle comes out of the Civil Secretariat in Jammu on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

Jammu, January 22
A fire that broke out on the rooftop of State Legislative Council created panic at the complex of the Civil Secretariat, the state’s seat of governance, here on Tuesday morning. No loss to human life or property was reported in the incident.

Official sources said a fire broke out on the rooftop of state Legislative Council, located inside the Civil Secretariat complex, when some labourers were busy with heating for coal tar preparation.

“A container full of coal tar primer caught fire and the blaze spread greatly within no time. Security personnel deployed at the complex rushed to the spot and doused the fire. Labourers had a narrow escape,” a source said. Two fire-tenders were rushed to the complex while security personnel deployed at the complex reportedly managed to control the fire.

The fire incident, however, created panic, with senior officers rushing to the spot.

Katra, January 22
Reasi police today held a meeting with sarpanches and panches in District Police Line Reasi. Police sought cooperation of sarpanches and panches in maintaining law and order, controlling crime and ensuring peace. They were requested to intervene in small issues in their villages and mohallas so that peace prevails.

Sarpanches and panches of block Mahore, Arnas Pouni and Reasi, asked the police to provide a secure environment for the panches and sarpanches to act as an organ of the government on one hand and represent the aspirations of the public on the other. Over 250 sarpanches highlighted various issues including training of Village Defence Committee (VDC) members, scarcity of ration and shortage of schools in rural areas.

SSP Reasi Thakur Raghuvir Singh assured the public representatives that all-out efforts would be made to maintain peace in the area and the police would go to the doorsteps of the public to provide effective and efficient services.

Jammu, January 22
The Public Health Engineering (PHE) department is mulling involving sarpanches and panches to save ponds and traditional water bodies in Jammu. Most of the traditional water bodies are dying slowly as they have either been encroached upon or are being used as dumping grounds.

They have been an important part of rural life in Jammu, but rapid urbanisation has slowly destroyed the traditional ponds (talaabs), particularly in Kandi area.

Till a few decades ago, there were ponds and ditches all over the city constituting an important water buffer particularly during the summer months, but now, people seldom use them owing to their condition.

Most people in Jammu attribute the condition of these ponds to influx of people from other regions of the state who constructed houses in these localities. In the past two decades, thousands of people from other parts of the state have made the city their permanent home and these traditional ponds have taken a beating.

About a year back, Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) announced a major project to save and beautify traditional water bodies falling under its jurisdiction, but its results are anybody's guess after seeing the condition of the ponds dotting the city.

Minister for Public Health Engineering, Sham Lal Sharma, said, “They could act as major source of groundwater recharge and panches and sarpanches could help in saving these traditional water bodies.” He said efforts are being made to use traditional methods to save water resources and to employ rainwater harvesting, particularly in Kandi areas of the Jammu region.

Officials said the government has also asked executive engineers to conduct a field tour for three days every week to monitor the ongoing work and schemes and submit a monthly tour diary to their chief engineers with details of the ground-level monitoring of various projects undertaken by the department.

Jammu, January 22
Having achieved the distinction of becoming the first woman to do a free fall from a height of 13,500 feet by unfurling the Tricolour in Perris Valley in the United States recently, Archana Sardana, India’s only woman skydiver and a qualified deep sea diver, says it is her dream to open a skydive/scuba dive academy in the state to help the youth to fulfil their dreams in the world of adventure sports.

In a telephonic conversation with The Tribune, Archana said unless the state government took any initiative to create awareness among the youth, it was not possible to create adequate infrastructure.

“First of all, there is no awareness and no support system. Unless the government gets involved, nothing can happen,” she said.

“Since I hail from the state, I want to a bring about awareness among the youth about this exciting adventure sport. It is my desire J&K becomes the first state in the country to introduce the activities like skydiving, scuba dive etc in an academy equipped with all the necessary facilities. But for this, the government has to play a vital role,” said Archana.

She has done 335 skydives besides jumping from aircraft, helicopters and hot air balloon in USA, Laos, Dubai and India. She is also the first Indian to unfurl the Indian flag underwater at 60-foot depth off Neil Island in Port Blair.

“My honest suggestion to the youth of J&K who want to enter the field of adventure is to positively do a course because it lays a solid foundation which will be with you life long,” she said.

Born in Jammu in 1972, Archana completed her schooling up to Class XI from Presentation Convent, Srinagar. Then she did XII from DBN School in Jammu. Archana graduated from the Government College for Women (GCW Gandhi Nagar) followed by a diploma in interior designing and computers. She did her adventure, basic and advanced mountaineering courses from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, and the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi.

Jammu, January 22
The Union Health Ministry has sanctioned Rs 52 crore for Jammu and Kashmir for the completion and upgradation of health infrastructure in the state under the National Rural Health Mission.

Under the flagship programme, the state government has already taken up execution of several hospital buildings in Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision was taken in this regard today at a high level meeting of the Central and state-level officials held at the union capital. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Minister of State for Health (independent charge), J&K, Shabir Ahmed Khan and Mission Director NRHM Anuradha Gupta also attended the meeting.

The nod for release of the amount was given by the Union Health Minister after receiving the assurance from the state Health Minister that all the under execution projects in J&K would be completed within stipulated time. He also assured the Union ministry that utilisation certificates of the projects would be ensured on time for release of next instalment of funds.

State Health Minister gave a detailed brief about the physical and financial achievements of the state government in strengthening and upgradation of health infrastructure under NRHM in the state.

During the meeting, several issues related to upgradation of healthcare facilities across the state under the programme were discussed.

Shabir demanded allocation of more funds under NRHM to the state government for setting up of new health centres and upgradation of existing ones in the state, especially in remote, hilly and border areas like Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kishtwar,Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla and Anatsnag districts.

The decision was taken in this regard today at a high level meeting of the Central and state-level officials held at the union capital The nod for release of the amount was given by the Union Health Minister The amount was sanctioned after assurance from the state Health Minister that all the under execution projects in J&K would be completed on time

Rajouri, January 22
District units of the Vishav Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal today demanded an apology from Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for his “saffron terrorism” remark against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

Speaking during a press conference at Rajouri, district president, Bajrang Dal, Karan Thakur said Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde should be sacked from his post and he needed to tender an apology to the nation for his “insensitive words” which would spread a wrong massage among the people about the RSS and the BJP as if they were promoting terrorism at their camps.

“We are giving suggestion to Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde to visit any camp of RSS to his satisfaction and see the reality,” Karan said.

“His words are condemnable. Shinde is himself supporting terrorists like Afzal Guru. I never heard a single word on that day when two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the LoC by the Pakistan troops. Why was he mum over the issue?” he added.

“With such comments, people like Shinde become the darling of real terrorists. In fact, he is helping our enemies by uttering such words,” Karan added.

“Such insensitive remark will not be tolerated by the VHP and Bajrang Dal. The RSS is the patriotic organisation,” he said.

He threatened to launch an agitation against Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch if he was not sacked and tendered an apology to the nation for his remarks.

Youngveer Gupta also slammed Shinde saying he should be sacked immediately.

Jammu, January 22
A delegation of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry headed by Vikrant Kuthiala, chairman J&K Committee, presented a pre-budget memorandum to Finance Minister AR Rather.

The member who accompanied the delegation were Rajinder Motial, JK Mengi, BP Bhalla, Bharat Bhushan Gupta, Deepak Daftari, Kuldeep Gupta, Naresh Gupta, Narinder Sharma, Om Prakash Gupta, Rahul Sahai, Ravinder Sawhney, Anil Gupta, Rajiv Gupta, Ajay Gandotra and ML Mathur.

While presenting the memorandum, the chamber stressed upon early implementation of power sector reforms, rationalisation of water usage charges for hydel projects.

The chamber also stressed upon the importance of supporting the existing industries and those sectors of the state which have the potential to generate economic activity, employment and effectively utilise the resources and wealth of the state.

The chamber has requested the minister for extension of subsidy on industrial building exemption from entry tax on pre-fabricated structures for industrial buildings, toll exemption on GP/HR/CR sheets and toll tax on wheat bran, enhancement of threshold and ToT limits.

Jammu, January 22
The Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, University of Jammu, today organised a lecture by Paramjit Singh Judge, professor and head, Department of Sociology, and coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

Prof Singh highlighted an “ever-deepening crisis” in social, political, and economic spheres and the escalating tyranny of the traditionally dominant or hegemonic groups known as the majority” on the one hand, and the rise of consciousness among Dalits and minorities on their legitimate rights, the growing global attention on internal socio-politics on the other, call for a paradigmatic shift.

He further said the social exclusion also reflected the prerequisite to have a mindset that needs a behavioural change in everyone in the society to aggrandise the conditions of the marginalised groups from social isolation into the mainstream social life. The lecture established that there was a huge scope of the study of social exclusion and inclusive policy leading to better social development.

Prof Mohan Paul Singh Ishar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu, in his address said the lectures on social relevance helped to generate academic debates and discussions to fulfil its objectives by formulating the outcome of the academic fora in a non-partisan and plural manner within the framework of social justice to achieve an egalitarian society as an extension and elaboration of social development.

Prof Jigar Mohammed, Director, Centre for Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, and Dean, Social Sciences in his welcome address underlined the importance of organising lectures on the issues of social relevance. The formal vote of thanks was presented by Ranjeet Kalra, Assistant Director, Academic Staff College. 

Jammu, January 22
The Gujjar Bakerwal Students Federation (GBSF) today criticised the state government for not paying heed to the demands raised by the Gujjar Bakerwal Advisory Board (GBAB) and it should be given Cabinet rank.

Addressing a press conference here, the state president of GBSF, Choudhary Nasib Ali, said there were special provisions for tribal communities in the Indian Constitution but the government was not following these constitutional provisions.

Ali said the state government was receiving funds from the Central government but these funds were not distributed among the beneficiaries.

He said the Gujjar and Bakerwal Community was facing hardships due to poor economic conditions. He alleged that the state government had only provided fake assurances but nothing had been done till date.

He demanded that the Gujjar Bakerwal Advisory Board should be given Cabinet rank.

Those present were Ashiq Choudhary, Gulham Nabi, Mohammad Arif, Shabir Ahmed and Mushtaq Ahmed. 

Jammu, January 22
Expressing serious concern over heavy snowfall and rain across Jammu and Kashmir, the Awami National Conference (ANC) provincial president, Gian Singh, said all facilities be provided to people in snow-affected areas of the state.

Singh said due to snowfall, the power supply in most of the areas had been affected with poles getting knocked down in upper reaches followed by technical snags. He urged upon the authorities to immediately restore power supply to ensure relief to them amid biting cold. The upper reaches in eight districts of the Jammu region have experienced heavy snowfall with continuous rainfall in plains in Jammu region.

In the wake of heavy snowfall in parts of Jammu division, the state government should set up control rooms to ensure minimum disruption of services, he added.

He further said the Mechanical Engineering and R&B departments should be put on alert in view of an inclement weather forecast to tackle the situation. The government, he said, should make best arrangements to remove snow from all the major roads and keep them clear for traffic movement.

Jammu, January 22
Roads and Buildings Minister (R&B) Abdul Majid Wani today inspected the restoration work on the Assembly Complex and asked the officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC) to speed up the work to get it completed before the commencement of the next Assembly session.

Wani directed the executing agency to ensure utilisation of quality material and apply modern technology in the construction work.

Commissioner Secretary, R&B, Chief Engineer, R&B, Jammu, Chief Engineer, PMGSY and other senior officers of JKPCC accompanied the minister.

The minister said all care would be taken to maintain the heritage status of the building. He said the experts and engineers supervising the work had been instructed to ensure that heritage status of the complex should be maintained at all levels.

He also inspected the lab where the model of new Assembly complex has been kept and interacted with the engineers supervising the work.

He asked them to work with dedication and keep in mind the importance of the complex.

Jammu, January 22
The Government College for Women (GCW Parade) defeated Degree College Hiranagar by 2-1 sets in the ongoing Inter-Collegiate (women) Women Volleyball Tournament being played at New University Campus Ground here today. GCW Parade clinched the opening set by 25-17 but could not continue the momentum in the next.

GDC Hiranagar emerged victorious in the second set by 25-21 but they too faltered in the decider which was won by GCW Parade by a margin of 15-13. Anupama and Jigmit were the outstanding spikers from GCW Parade while Suman Devi also played well for GDC Hiranagar.

In another match, GCW Gandhi Nagar had last laugh against Commerce College by 2-0 sets (25-8 and 25-11). Bindu Verma and Bharti Devi played outstandingly from the winner team while Rajeshwary was the standout performer for Commerce College. The matches were officiated by Ramesh Sharma , Shashi Sharma , Manisha Kumar and Sabita .

In the men section, Government Degree College (GDC) Hiranagar has secured a berth in the semifinals.

In the quarterfinal match, GDC Hiranagar overcame the challenge of Government MAM College in straight sets. After getting walkovers in their first two rounds of the competition, both GDC Hiranagar and MAM College had reached the last eight stages.

GDC Billawar and GDC Samba have also qualified for the quarterfinals. GDC Billawar defeated GDC Ramban by 2-1 sets while GDC Samba had last laugh over GDC Bishnah by 2-0.

Earlier, in the first round matches played, GDC Ramban drubbed GDC Udhampur by 2-1 sets, GDC Billawar outplayed GDC Ramnagar 2-0, GDC Kathua beat GDC Rajouri 2-1, New Age College Billawar beat SPMR College of Commerce by 2-1, SVNS Chann Rorian beat GDC RS Pura by 2-0, GDC Akhnoor beat RK Degree College Vijaypur by 2-1.

The matches were officiated by the penal of referees including Mulkh Raj Sharma, Roshan Sharma, Balwinder Singh Jamwal, Sanjeev Singh, Mohinder Sharma, Madan Lal, Mandeep Singh and Pankaj Sploia under the guidance of Physical Director of the College, Dr Balbinder Singh.

Earlier, the competition was declared open by SSP Kathua, Atul Kumar Goel. Principal of Police Training School, Kathua, R K Bhat and Principal of GDC Kathua, Dr Netar Singh were also present on the occasion.