Jammu, July 12
With the traffic police choosing to look the other way, overloading in buses, mini buses and tempos goes on unchecked, especially in rural areas notwithstanding the fact that people have lost their lives in accidents across the state over the past months.

The passenger vehicle operators, particularly in rural areas, had also resorted to various tactics in creating more space than the seating capacity in their vehicles to generate “extra income”, forgetting the risk to lives of passengers.

“Overloading has become a common problem in rural areas. Leave aside mini buses and buses, overloading in newly introduced ‘loading tempos’, being used to ferry passengers from one place to another in rural and semi-urban areas, is quite visible and dangerous, but the authorities seem to be reluctant in initiating action against the violators,” Sunil Sharma, a research scholar, University of Jammu, said.

Sharma said the risk is always high in travelling in overloaded vehicles, particularly in loading tempos where the passengers hang behind the moving vehicle, which creates problem for the drivers in controlling the vehicle.

Rajeshwar Singh Jamwal, a resident of Vijaypur area, remarked, “Due to non-availability of government-controlled public transport, the private bus and mini bus operators always try to make good profit by resorting to overloading. Unfortunately, the policemen don’t take action against the violators as the latter had developed a nexus with them and they pay them hafta (bribe) for illegal ferrying of more passengers than the seating capacity of their vehicles.”

The traffic police said it was facing shortage of manpower and it had engaged the local police to keep a check on overloading in rural areas.

“The department, which was created in 1982 with staff strength of 927 officers and officials, has been grappling with severe staff shortage owing to a manifold increase in vehicular population. It sometimes become difficult for on-duty traffic policemen to check all road violations,” a senior traffic police officer said requesting anonymity.

The officer said the state government had sanctioned the creation of 1,496 posts for the traffic in a phased manner two years back and a total of over 653 posts of different categories were created, which took the staff strength of traffic police up to 1,580.

As many as 1,165 people lost their lives and 9,755 received injuries in 6,709 road accidents last year.

In 2011, a total of 1,120 people were killed and 10,108 had received injuries in 6,644 road accidents.

The year 2010 had devoured 1,042 precious human lives in 6,136 road accidents. The number of road accidents that occurred in 2009 stood at 6,006, wherein 1,126 people lost their lives.

Jammu, July 12
Despite there being a plan submitted by the tourism department for the Balidan Stambh, supposed to be a tourist attraction, it has been left abandoned and disowned unceremoniously by the state government.

Balidan Stambh, which was set up and entrusted to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by then Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor on November 24, 2009 at a function in Jammu, is being neglected by the authorities. Neither the state government nor the Army is maintaining the memorial.

According to a former Director Tourism, the Civil Secretariat had sent a letter to Jammu's tourism department to frame a proposal to upkeep and maintain this memorial in early 2010. In response to the letter, the tourism department had submitted a plan to the secretariat to make it operational for visiting tourists and devotees of the Bahu Fort Circuit.

But nothing has been done by the secretariat in this regard even after more than three years have elapsed and the war memorial has been left abandoned by the state administration.

As per the plan, the tourism department was to start a light and sound show in the evening and a photo gallery of the war heroes was to be set up. The department had also proposed a local folk and dance show with local art and craft counters.

The department has proposed that there should be a ticket to visit this memorial so that some funds can be generated to maintain it. The department is to set up a tuck shop for visitors in the memorial complex.

Coming up at an investment of Rs 13 crore, the Balidan Stambh took five years to come up. The memorial has 54 pillars bearing the names of over 5,000 martyrs, etched in the stone in golden. These martyrs sacrificed their lives since 1947 in wars. There is a 60-metre-tall tower (Stambh), prodding the skyline like a bayoneted rifle. Its towering height may serve as an epitome of unsurpassable resolve, valour, dedication and selfless service by the martyred Army men to their country.

Musical fountains, pathways and landscaped gardens, which add to the ambience and beauty of the memorial, have fallen victim to administrative apathy. The golden colour of the etchings has lost its shine, much of the floor and wall tiles are broken and the area has not been cleaned for months together.

At the base of the tower, eternal flame is supposed to be lighted, but as it requires six LPG cylinders per day, no one has funds for it.

Sojanya Sharma, Director Tourism, Jammu, said, “It has not been handed over to the department by the state, so we cannot maintain it. We have got a letter from the divisional commissioner, but no proposal has been made to make it operational for tourists.”

Some officials of the tourism department also suggested that the memorial could be entrusted to the Army or state police.

Jammu, July 12
The administration is working to prevent flooding of low-lying areas along nullahs and water channels in Jammu by removing debris every week. With solid waste blocking water, heavy rains flood several localities during the rainy season, causing damage to infrastructure.

It was evident from the first spell of monsoon rain on June 15 that the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) had not done its homework, which had put a question mark over the administration's claims for the last many years that preventive steps had been taken to reduce damages from heavy rainfall.

While Jammu and Kashmir received monsoon 15 days ahead of the usual time this year and the weather gods have been playing hide-and-seek, in the past over two weeks, the city has received heavy rains.

“Several localities were flooded with sewerage water as the drains were clogged. Nullahs also get clogged with polythene and other solid waste dumped by people, which causes problem," said local resident Anil Sharma.

The areas worst hit during the rainfall include Digiana, Talab Tillo, Canal Road, Sidhra, Gujjar Nagar, Channi Himmat, Gumat, Subash Nagar, Rajiv Nagar, Gangyal, Digiana, Trikuta Nagar, Bhour Camp and Talab. Several residential colonies have been established close to water channels carrying the city's sewerage.

Officials said though strict instructions had been issued that nullahs should be cleaned regularly and action should be taken against people caught dumping their garbage, the directives are not being followed.

In many parts of the city, rainwater had blocked the drains and nullahs. The dirty water gushed into shops and houses, causing extensive damage. People had to pump out rainwater from their houses and shops.

Jammu, July 12
Residents of Bhaderwah held a strong protest outside Jamia Masjid against erratic power supply during the month of Ramadan by the Power Development Department (PDD).

Protesters blocked the road outside the mosque and disrupted the traffic for hours and raised slogans against the PDD.

Addressing the protesters, president of the Anjuman Islamia, Bhaderwah, Kherat Hussain Farash, lashed out at the PDD against the unscheduled power cuts. “On one side, the PDD is increasing tariff and on the other side, there are unscheduled power cuts for hours together. We hardly witness electricity these days.”

He said the PDD had failed to provide electricity as per the schedule during the holy month of Ramadan. “Nobody is listening to our appeals. We are forced to hold protest on roads,” he said.

Farash said the sub-divisional magistrate, Bhaderwah, was made aware of the problems being faced by people during the month of Ramadan. “But the SDM misbehaved with us and we had no option, but to protest,” he added.

Anjuman Islamia, Bhaderwah, vice-president Shahid Hussan Najar criticised the administration and the PDD for not fulfilling their promises of not going for load shedding in the month of Ramadan. 

Jammu, July 12
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) celebrated its 32nd foundation day on Friday at its regional office in Jammu.

BG Mukhopadhyay, CGM Nabard, J and K Regional office, informed that the NABARD was set up as an apex development financial institution with a mandate for agriculture and rural development in the country on July 12, 1982. Over the years, NABARD has added numerous other functions viz, credit planning, financing and monitoring of rural infrastructure, refinance to banks, institution building, supervision, watershed and tribal development, consultancy and micro-finance (through its subsidiaries).

NABARD is also playing an important role in the ‘Financial Inclusion’ agenda of the government, which is considered necessary to pave way for the electronic benefit transfer of subsidies and other incentives to vast majority of population in the country.

T Haq Director, council for social development, said the state was lagging behind in many important socio-economic parameters such as the NSDP per capita, employment rate, agriculture productivity, irrigation and roads. He established the need for inclusive growth under State’s GSDP was 21 per cent as against the all-India average of 14 per cent, thereby indicating the importance of the sectors to economy of the state.

Asgar Hussain Samoon, Secretary and Commissioner, Agriculture Production Department, was the guest of honour on the occasion. He appreciated NABARD’s concern for promoting agriculture and allied sectors in the state and profusely thanked the chief guest for his valuable inputs, which would be to facilitate development of future strategies and actionable points for all stake holders. Other invitees included representatives from RBI, SBI, PNB, EDB, JKGB, Cooperative Bank and NGOs.

Batote, July 12
Hill stations Batote, Patnitop and Sanasar in Ramban district and Kud in Udhampur district on the NH-44 are teeming with the activities of nomads (Gujjars and Bakerwals).

Residents from Jammu and Udhampur have migrated here in large numbers, especially to fend off from the scorching and sweltering heat which has been all the more oppressive due to the acute scarcity of power and water. But they get succour from the sweltering heat at the cost of the depleting natural resources, deteriorating environment and the locals’ mental peace.

Being a picturesque, peaceful and easily accessible round the clock, the Batote town, contiguous to Patnitop and Sanasar (called as the Khajjiar of Jammu or the Chota Gulmarg), has been the most popular destinations for such people.

“Batote was a famous sanatorium of north India till 1970 and top personalities like Sadat Hussain Mantoo, actor Omprakash have lived here,” said Kundan Lal Bakshi (96) who has a summer cottage at Tringla in Batote. Like him, many families from Jammu have their summer cottages or duplex houses here.

“Before 1947, about 8,000 people from Sialkot (POK) and other areas of Jammu used to come and stay in the rented accommodations in the summers every year,” recalled Faqir Chand Dubey (86). Tringla, surrounded by the sylvan forests of deodar and Kail trees, is the salubrious and picturesque place that overlooks the enchanting Batote town and has many a perennial springs. Moreover, being a shady place, it is more breezy and colder than any other nearby place.

It has been a dream of every Jammuite, especially migrated Kashmiri Pandits, after their exodus to have a summer hut here.

“For past many years, we have been regularly coming at Tringla. We stay in tents to save ourselves from scorching heat. We neither need a fan nor a refrigerator,” said Ramprasad, a native of Rajasthan and one of the members of the 14 families of a slum colony of Janipura, Jammu, who are staying here in a private land with their families. “Moreover, we complete our routine pursuits without any harassment by the police or locals here,” he added.

“But the unchecked settlement of the people here in the summers affects the water supply, causes poor sanitation, thefts in orchards, damage to forests and other nuisances. They litter non-biodegradable garbage and ease themselves where ever they wish, thus stinking our area ,” added KL Bakshi.

Batote, July 12
An inter-school essay writing competition was organised under the aegis of the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion under Operation Sadbhavana in Kishtwar today.

All 58 participating students were divided into three categories. Students of class VI to class XII were allowed to speak on the contemporary topics in English, Hindi or Urdu with a view to provide them a platform to freely express their views and develop their all-round personality.

First, second and third winners of each category were given trophies, followed by the distribution of consolation prizes to remaining participants. The Army is conducting such events for the students or youth to wean them away from terrorism and other anti-social activities.

Batote, July 12
A ten-day vocational training in the electrical trade organised by the Sohanda based Rashtriya Rifles (RR) battalion in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development and Hamdard Education Institute concluded at Gandoh in Doda district today.

26 students participated in the training programme.

The certificates were also given to the students.

Jammu, July 12
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) today constituted the trade and industry wing and appointed Vijay Gupta as its president.

Gupta is the president of the Kanak Mandi Traders Association and had joined the NC on February 27 this year. Speaking on the occasion, NC provincial president Devender Singh Rana stressed on the crucial role of people engaged with trade, commerce and industry in the overall growth of the Jammu city, which has achieved the distinction of being a premier tourism and pilgrim centre in north India.

He said apart from carving out opportunities of employment and enhancing growth, the industry and trade had to ensure greater consumer satisfaction.

“The National Conference was aware of the problems confronting trade and commerce and said every effort was being made to put in place the necessary infrastructural facilities required in the Jammu city,” Rana said.

“Maintaining grandeur of the gateway of tourists to Kashmir and pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi and Amarnath yatra is responsibility of one and all,” the NC provincial president said.

S Abhinandan Singh Sachdeva of SAS Industries, Gangyal, has been appointed as the senior vice-president (Industry), S Mohinder Singh of Chand Finance, Nehru Market as senior vice-president (trade), Sahil Malhotra of Highland Fashion, Raghunath Bazar, Jammu as the secretary, Ajay Sharma of Tawi Super Shopee, Channi Himmat Colony as the joint secretary, Ajit Singh of Guru Nanak Sports, Kanak Mandi Gali Partap Garh, Jammu as treasurer and Naresh Gupta of Mulkh Raj Ved Parkash, Ware House, Jammu as the spokesperson.