Jammu, June 23
Thanks to the “highly unprofessional approach” on the part of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) in ensuring sanitary conditions, uncovered vehicles transporting solid waste and garbage on roads are a common sight in the ‘City of Temples’ with the civic body flouting norms for collecting and disposing of waste with impunity.

Furthermore, the vehicles collecting solid waste and garbage from the Old City don’t adhere to the guidelines, resulting in utter chaos on narrow and congested roads in many parts of the city.

A civic body official said though the municipal corporation had announced plying of automated pick-up vehicles for collecting waste from city parts, the management of solid waste and garbage is yet to improve in the municipal limits.

“Garbage spills on to the roads, causing woes to the people, especially motorists, because open vehicles are used for collecting waste from areas coming under the corporation limit. In some cases, only a thin plastic sheet is used to cover the waste while transporting it from collecting point to disposal site,” the official said.

As per the guidelines, the vehicles transporting solid waste and garbage should be properly covered and should be appropriately designed.

Pardeep Kumar, an employee at a bookshop in Pacca Danga, said, “The waste management system of the civic body has virtually collapsed. The drivers of garbage collecting vehicles enter the city as per their wishes, ignoring the traffic rush and congestion, resulting in a huge chaos and frequent traffic jams in the area. The civic body should ensure that these vehicles collect garbage early in the morning or during late night hours so that traffic congestion is avoided.”

Kumar further said the open trucks are being used to transport garbage from one point to the next and it has made their lives miserable. “The stench emanating from the waste becomes unbearable by the time it is loaded manually into the trucks by around 10 am or sometimes even at 11 am. The civic body needs to apply some civic sense while lifting garbage from collecting points,” he said.

Ashok Sharma, a shopkeeper in Dhounthly Bazaar, suggested the civic body should introduce automated vehicles to ensure that the waste is handled in a hygienic manner.

“The present way of civic body to collect garbage from the city is in violation of the central guidelines - Vehicles used for transportation of waste should be properly covered. The rules prescribe that waste should neither be visible to public nor exposed to open environment to prevent their scattering,” Sharma said.

KL Khajuria, JMC Commissioner, was not available for comment.

Jammu, June 23
To rein in rising prices and meet the deficit in vegetable production in urban centres, Jammu and Kashmir has failed to properly utilise Rs 12 crore received under centrally sponsored Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters (VIUC) to make vegetables available at affordable prices.

The programme was to be implemented in Jammu and Srinagar.

Under the plan, Rs 6 crore each was allocated to both the capitals, which are dependent on surrounding villages to meet the demands of farm commodities.

Under the scheme, farmers were to be provided with hybrid seeds, seedlings, training and processing and cold storage facilities at subsided rates. It also envisages dissemination of information about the items with greater demand in the market. The scheme will cover several fronts including production, logistics covering post-harvest handling, storage, transportation, marketing, distribution and policy reform.

“The plan looked good but the state government has not been able to utilise the money properly. Farmers who supply farm produce to urban centre did not get expected help. The vegetable prices continues to increase, affecting the lives of consumers,” said an agriculture official.

Officials said the project launched across the country is aimed at meeting the demands of vegetables in all state capitals and urban centres with population greater than 10 lakh.

“Despite the fact that over 13.5 lakh tonnes of vegetables are being produced annually in the state, it continues to bank on heavy imports from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to meet the actual demand,” said Tejinder Singh, a farm leader from RS Pura.

However, many farmers associated with vegetable cultivation have not heard much about the scheme. “Many schemes have been advertised in the past, but they fail to reach us due to the approach of the officials. So we do not trust the government much,” said farmer Balwinder Singh.

Jammu, June 23
Religious fervour marked the celebrations of Kabir Jayanti across Jammu today with devotees thronging the temples, chanting religious hymns and taking out colourful processions.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who flew from Srinagar to Jammu, also participated in the celebrations and greeted the followers on Kabir Jayanti.

In his address to a congregation of devotees, Omar said reformers and religious scholars had always sought salvage of human beings from all evils and sins to create a society embedded with high principles of humanism, love and brotherhood.

“All religions want to inculcate and nurture the spirit of humanism in mankind,” he said, adding that the great preachers and scholars of different faiths had always worked to develop a society where human beings live in an atmosphere of love and peace.

Omar also presented a resume on the life and teachings of Kabir and enumerated his endeavours to reform mankind and create a society free from hatred and evils. He also assured the devotees that the memorandum of demands presented by their leaders on the occasion would be given due consideration. He said he would ask his planning minister to look into the demand of the All J&K Shri Sad Guru Kabir Sabha regarding the construction of the community hall and find out all possibilities for its early completion.

He said the state government had declared Kabir Jayanti a restricted holiday. “The government has declared Kabir Jayanti a restricted holiday and demand to declare it a gazetted holiday will also be given due consideration,” he said.

Minister for Planning and Development Ajay Sadhotra and legislator and provincial president, NC Jammu, Devender Singh Rana, who was the chief guest on the occasion, also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the All J&K Shri Sad Guru Kabir Sabha organised an impressive shobha yatra (religious procession) which started from Satwari and after passing through Gandhi Nagar, Vikram Chowk, Jewel Chowk, KC Morh, Shakuntla and Amphalla Chowk and new plot culminated at Shri Sad Guru Kabir Temple, Janipur.

The procession comprised approximately over 600 vehicles and tableaus highlighting the teachings of Kabir. The devotees, enroute, chanted religious discourses and hymns in praise of Kabir.

The procession was led by former Minister Mula Ram and was prominently accompanied by FC Bhagat, president, sabha, senior vice-president GR Bhagat, RS Pura MLA Gharu Ram Bhagat, Chenani MLA KC Bhagat, MLC Sham Lal Bhagat and others. Speaking on the occasion, the president of the sabha moved a resolution demanding Kabir Jayanti as a gazetted holiday on Kabir Jayanti.

CPI (M) state secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Sunday visited the families of two slain police constables, who were killed by the police on Saturday in the city here.

Tarigami expressed solidarity with the bereaved families. Both the policemen were residents of south Kashmir. “Expressing deep shock over the incident, Tarigami said violence in any form is no solution to any problem,” a party statement said.

The CPI (M) leader said the killing of two constables in a ‘ghastly’ manner had left the dreams of two more Kashmiri families shattered.

“Kashmir has already paid a huge price during turmoil as thousands of lives were lost leaving behind a trail of tragedies. Today we have a huge population of widows, orphans, destitute and elderly who lost their husbands, fathers, breadwinners and children to the senseless violence,” he said. — TNS

Jammu, June 23
In an attempt to reach out people of hilly and rural areas and address their problems at their doorsteps, Minister for PHE, Irrigation Flood and Control Sham Lal Sharma inspected status of various development projects and reviewed the implementation of Central and state welfare schemes during his two-day tour to his home constituency.

The minister also addressed a series of public meetings and also listened to the demands of local deputations during the tour.

On his way, the minister took stock of various projects being executed in Chowki Choura area, including the under construction double storey hospital building, irrigation dam, under construction tube well and link road at Heela village, upper Hardu Malara, Mohalla Rewa Ram and Mohalla Badok. He inspected new circular road at Mohalla Kali Mata Mandir and link road at Mohalla Dev Raj Sarpanch, under construction Panchayat Ghar and road from Dokhada to Makara via newly-constructed bridge at Bambli (Salyote).

The minister also inspected the pace of progress on the under construction Rs 3.18 crore 50-bedded emergency hospital at Chowki Choura and was told that Rs 1.5 crore had been expended on the project till date. He instructed executive agencies PWD (R&B) to complete these projects within a period of one year.

Jammu, June 23
Minister for Housing Raman Bhalla today asked poor women and other weaker sections of the society to take benefit of schemes meant for their socio-economic development.

The minister was addressing a large gathering after distributing sewing machines and tailoring kits among the women trained in tailoring by the Social Welfare Department at an awareness camp.

The camp was organised by the Social Welfare Department at Rajiv Nagar here today. District Social Welfare Officer Kulraj Singh, besides other senior officers and locals in large numbers, were present on the occasion.

He said the state government had launched several welfare schemes to provide assistance to the poor and downtrodden, including Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, disabled persons and other backward classes of the society, adding that the Social Welfare Department (SWD) was implementing many schemes meant for their socio-economic amelioration.

Bhalla said with the liberal funding from the Central Government, several welfare schemes for the under-privileged people were under implementation in the state. He stressed upon the people to come forward and avail the benefits out of these schemes, particularly those offering opportunities to the women to be self-reliant.

Srinagar, June 23
The National Sikh Front (NSF) started a signature campaign here today seeking a fair trial in the 1984 killings of Sikhs in New Delhi.

“Since 1984, justice has been deliberately delayed and denied to Sikhs. Even after the establishment of 10 state commissions to investigate the November 1984 Sikh genocide, the culprits are free and enjoying powerful political and state positions. Sikh victims of this genocide were awaiting justice,” said NSF vice-president Gurdyal Singh Bali after launching the signature campaign from Gurdwara Chatti Patshai at Rainawari here.

He said more than 500 people from different walks of life reached the venue to pen down their sympathy with the families seeking justice.

Bali said the signature campaign would be held at other gurdwaras of the Valley in the coming days. He said the signature campaign had been held across Jammu during the past one month.

The NSF has started its signature campaign to garner public support for severe punishment to former MP Sajjan Kumar and other Congress leaders for their alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

“Due to the state's failure to punish the culprits of the 1984 Sikh genocide, Muslims in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh (1992), and Ahmedabad, Gujarat (2002), as well as Christians in Kandhmal, Orrisa (2008), have become victims of other massacres. The existence of minorities in India is clearly threatened,” Bali added.