Jammu, August 31
The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) is exposing hundreds of labourers engaged in cleaning of drains and sewers in Jammu city to various deadly infections and other health hazards as no safety equipment have been provided to them.

Every few months, the corporation invites tenders for manual cleaning of drains that carry muck of nearly 15 lakh inhabitants, but no safety precautions are been taken in the process. Only a few workers have been provided with rubber gloves, masks or rubber vests to prevent contact of dirty sewerage water with the body.

At several places, workers continue to clean drains with bamboo sticks or iron rods to clear blockages. The sludge is collected into baskets and passed to the person standing outside.“Sludge is a fatal mixture of infections and its contact with body is dangerous for those who clean the sewers in the city. No consideration is being given to provide them with safety gadgets,” said an official.

The JMC ignores the safety aspect involved in the work as the staff continues to work in hazardous conditions. There are many temporary contractors who hire people and even children to clean the drains.

"Back pain, trauma injuries, itchy rash and cough are common health problems among solid waste collectors and drainage cleaners. Needle prick injuries, cuts and exposure to toxins were the major health hazards," said Bushan Parimoo, who runs an NGO.

"The nullahs are filled with polythene bags and solid waste that block the water and choke gutters. There is not much difference between cleaned and unclean gutters, as even after cleaning these, the condition remains the same,” said Tony Gill, a Safai Karamchari union leader.

Garbage collection and cleaning of drains and sewers are professions that have an adverse social perception, perhaps due to the inherent nature of the work. The level of hygiene and health status of such workers is a concern and it has been widely debated. However, only a few studies and programmes have been conducted to assess and improve the health status of the workers. Municipal Commissioner KL Khajuria said they were distributing equipment to the staff.

Jammu, August 31
Apart from disrupting traffic, the damaged roads in the city have also been putting financial burden on commuters. They have to spend a lot of money on maintenance of vehicles that get damaged due to plying on these roads.

Heavy rain in July and August created potholes on almost all the city roads, including the national highway. These potholes are not only creating traffic jams and inviting accidents, but are also putting financial burden on the commuters by damaging the vehicles.

Commuters moving towards Gumat Chowk, Kunjwani bypass and Amphalla Chowk are the worst-hit these days, as most of the two-wheelers skid off here.

Garage owners say there has been an increase in the number of customers coming for maintenance of vehicles. While some of them complain their vehicles got damaged while driving on bumpy roads, others claim their vehicles met with an accident due to potholes.

Abhijeet Mahajan, a banker, said, "There’s not even a single road in the city that does not have potholes. It increases the depreciation charges that prove hard on our pockets.”

“We are paying token tax of the vehicles, so that the government provides us smooth roads. However, if the government cannot provide the facility of smooth roads in the city, what kind of roads we expect in other districts?” he said.

Kunal Khajuria, a commuter, said, “Some commuters are developing orthopaedic problems due to driving on bumpy roads. The bad shape of roads is putting at stake lives of the residents of the city.”

Surjit Singh, a manager at a garage, said, "The number of vehicles with shocker problems and dents coming for repair has gone up by 40 per cent in two months. Most of the four-wheeler drivers fail to control speed on the potholed roads and the vehicles get damaged.”

Nasir Goni, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, said, “Heavy rain this monsoon has rendered city roads damaged. We are now waiting for the weather to clear so that the repair work could be started.”

Jammu, August 31
It was a show of strength for two national parties in Jammu, All India Congress Committee (AICC) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), when crucial party meetings were turned into rallies by bringing bikes and cars to accompany their national leaders.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and in charge J&K affairs Ambika Soni and BJP national president Rajnath Singh were in the city to address party meetings but local leaders of both the parties did not let the opportunity go and give it a colour of show of strength ahead of the crucial election year.

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) leaders started their rally from the government guest house on the canal road to Ashoka Hotel in which scores of bikers and cars belonging to Congress workers were accompanying Ambika Soni to the meeting venue.

The Congress party flag was installed on these bikes and cars, which moved through different roads and reached Ashoka Hotel without any halt, as the traffic police had cleared the traffic from the road for a smooth passage of convoy of political leaders.

After 10 minutes gap, the BJP convoy accompanying its national president started from the airport to the government guest house and a number of bikers and cars were part of it. One thing was common between two rallies that the party flags were installed on bikes and cars, which was aimed at showing their strength.

These rallies kept the traffic police on toes and the VIP movement continued in and around Jammu city throughout the day. The Congress rally seems to have scored a point over the BJP by means of number of vehicles participating in it, but BJP local leaders had managed to gather more people in the public meeting. Though the Congress event was restricted to party leaders and legislators, but the BJP managed to convey the message that they still held the key in Jammu city.

The Congress party rally was a signal to all political parties that it was ready to face any challenge in future poll in Jammu and Kashmir.

The elections for Lok Sabha and J&K legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held next year and the preparation for elections went on today with a simple but an effective show of strength by two parties.

Jammu, August 31
A truck driver blocked the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway near Bari-Brahmana for hours, alleging that he was manhandled by the traffic police on saturday.

Police said he fled the spot before any action.

There was a long queue of vehicles at the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway this afternoon, as the driver of a truck from Punjab had blocked the national highway for hours together and was not listening to anybody.

The truck driver alleged that the traffic policemen had mishandled him, but when asked to register an FIR he refused and went away.

“When we got the information of the road blockade, we immediately rushed to the spot and asked the driver to come for medical checkup, as he alleged that the traffic policeman had beaten him," said Arun Jamwal, Station House Office (SHO), Bari Brahmana. “But he refused to go for the medical checkup and when we were busy clearing the traffic jam, he managed to flee the spot,” he added.

The SHO didn't note the name of driver and registration number of the truck.

Sources said the police arrested the driver and later released him with his vehicle. Manmohan Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) traffic, said, “Most of these Punjab-based vehicles come without valid papers, so the duty officer stopped the drivers, but they run away. Today, the officer chased him upto Bari Brahmana bridge as his jurisdiction was upto that bridge only.”

But the driver, along with some other drivers, blocked the road and started protesting on the national highway.

The SSP said the duty officer didn’t inform him about the incident. “I reprimanded the duty officer for not informing me on time, else we could have caught the driver on the next check post,” said the SSP. 

Rajouri, August 31
The recent flood fury victims of Kalakote in border Rajouri district alleged that the state government had played a cruel joke with them by giving a meagre relief in lieu of the damage to crops, houses and agriculture land.

Thraru sarpanch Molana Alam Din said the massive landslide in Treru village of Kalakote tehsil after the cloudburst has turned into an artificial lake in a river and paralysed the road connectivity to 20 villagers. Apart from this seven families have been affected and six houses have submerged in the artificial lake.

He said, “It’s unfortunate that despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s assurance of suitable composition to victims of flood fury in his recent visit to Traru, villagers have received a meagre amount of Rs 3,200.”

“Lal Din, an 80-year-old, having four sons and family of 24 members have lost their 40 canals of land that washed away in flash floods. His four houses were damaged, but the government didnot provide him relief,” the sarpanch added.

Not only him, but several other poor families were forced to live in open air without shelter, Makhan Din, son of Mirza and Mohammed Farooq, had lost eight canals of land and partial damaged to their houses, but the state government had washed their hands by giving a relief of Rs 3,200, he further said.

He alleged that the area was still submerged under water, but the authorities were doing nothing to save the property. Children were forced to walk miles to reach schools to attend classes. Ration supply, medical facilities was completely parlayed in over 20 villages.

Speaking to The Tribune District Development Commissioner, Rajouri, Faqir Chand Bhagat said, “We have compensated flood victims according to criteria set by government, but as far as the Traru flood victims are concerned, they were inhabited on forest land, but we assured them to provide land in another places.”

Jammu, August 31
A two-day training programme was organised at the Regional Rural Extension Training Centre, RS Pora, for the recently engaged Gram Rozgar Sahayaks of Udhampur district.

While addressing the Gram Rozgar Sahayaks from blocks of Udhampur district, BK Pandita, Principal, Regional Rural Extension Training Centre, RS Pura, said a large number of schemes were implemented for the development of rural areas for which substantial funding was provided by the Government of India and state government.

He said the manpower to implement these pro-poor programmes would not be enough until and unless the stakeholders of these welfare schemes were made acquainted with the provisions.

“The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has given rise to the largest employment programme. The scheme was launched in 200 districts of the country in 2006-07 in phase-1 and further extended to 130 districts in the 2007-08 financial year,” said Pandita.

Accordingly, Regional Rural Extension Training Centre has taken up the work of capacity building of the Gram Rozgar Sahayaks in various districts of Jammu division.

Jammu, August 31
The Centre for Women Studies of Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, in collaboration with J&K State Women's Development Corporation (WDC), conducted an entrepreneurship awareness camp for the students.

The aim of conducting the camp was to empower the young women with entrepreneur skills to motivate them to take up for self employment ventures in the future.

Principal of the college Kiran Bakshi welcomed Rifat Qamar from women development corporation and appreciated the efforts of the Centre for Women Studies of the college to organise such kind of awareness generating camp for their future growth, self generating modes of income which in turn will build the self esteem and dignity of the girl students in the years to come.

Manisha Kohli, HoD, Psychology, elaborated upon the motive of holding this camp for the students of the college. Representative, WDC, Rifat Qamar apprised the students about different schemes implemented by state government for the improvement of their status.

These schemes will usher a new era of liberation amongst the women and develop their potential for entrepreneurship. 

Jammu, August 31
The Forest Department today launched a plantation drive and awareness campaign at Reasi to mark the celebrations of 64th van mahotsava. The drive was launched in collaboration with the Government General Zorawar Singh Memorial Degree College, Reasi.

Chief Conservator of Forests, Jammu, Ravi Kesar, was the chief guest on the occasion. The programme began with a ceremonial plantation by the chief guest.

Conservator conservator of forests, west circle, RS Jasrotia, district forest officer (DFO) Reasi Dr Syed Nadeem Hussain, Mahore DFO Mohammed Rafi Khan, Forest Protection Force (FPF) deputy director SK Bhat and Government Degree College Reasi principal Dr Ajeet Angral, besides other officers and faculty members, were present on the occasion.

Students of Government Degree College, Reasi, showed a great enthusiasm in the plantation drive by participating in large numbers. Free saplings were distributed among the students for planting in their homes and surroundings. Marking the occasion of the 64th van mahotsava, Chief Conservator of forests, Jammu, Ravi Kesar, announced the creation of "Campus Forest" on the premises of the college which shall be maintained by the Forest Department with an active support of the college administration.

Later, a symposium competition on "Role of youth in preservation of environment" was held in the college wherein students expressed their ideas on the importance of the youth in the country and elsewhere for environmental protection and conservation. Prizes and certificates were distributed amongst the students.

The guest of honour, Conservator of Forests RS Jasrotia, expressed his thanks and pleasure at the overwhelming response and participation of the college students. He emphasised on the role of forests and clean environment in our day-to-day life. He also brought to light various challenges faced by the Forest Department in the preservation and augmentation of forest cover in the face of unabated construction of roads, encroachments, population pressure and forest fires etc. 

Jammu, August 31
I-Learn, a first-of-its-kind premier institute that specialises in French language and English, today organised a painting competition at KC Gurukul School. A large number of students participated in the contest.

Speaking on the occasion, Principal of the school BR Dogra thanked I-Learn for providing a platform to the budding talent.

ON Khajuria, former General Manager of J&K Bank and Director of I-Learn, said the institute would strive to contribute to society.

Situated in Gandhi Nagar, I-learn imparts quality French and English education to students.

The notable feature of the event was an Italian song sung by Shita Khanna, a student of the school.

Prominent among others present on the occasion included Chairperson, KC Gurukul, Arvind Mahajan, head mistress Mamta Singh, Arun Sharma, senior faculty of I-learn, Rama Bargotra and Sonam Bhasin and Tripti Mittal. 

Jammu, August 31
The Dharmund-based Counter Insurgency Force (Delta), which has remained on the forefront to empower youth by giving wide publicity to various skill development schemes of the Central Government like Project Himayat and Project Udaan, has given wings to the dreams of students from erstwhile Doda region.

The Delta Force took the initiative to educate youth of the Doda region and today, as many as 101 students have been able to secure admissions in the Pacific University in Udaipur.

A proposal of the Pacific University was given wide publicity to the youth and all assistance was provided to them in securing admissions in desired streams. All assistance was provided to coordinate the movement of the students from Kishtwar and Doda as well as to coordinate their reception at Udaipur.

Jammu, August 31
Tamil Nadu Cricket Club (TNCC) and and Rajput Cricket Club (RCC) got the better of UP Cricket Club and Haryana Cricket Club, respectively, in the ongoing All-India 1st Jammu Kashmir Friendship T20 Cricket Championship 2013 being played at University of Jammu (JU) Grounds.

The first match was played between UP Cricket Club and Tamil Nadu Cricket Club (TNCC). Batting first, after winning the toss, TNCC accumulated 106 runs in the stipulated quota of 20 overs. Raja was the highest scorer with 27 runs while Akshay Kaul chipped in with 27 runs.

From UP Cricket Club, Mandeep and Vinod snared two and one wicket, respectively. In reply, UP Cricket Club could not chase the target and could manage 93 runs for the loss of five wickets. Abhay Choudhary was the highest scorer with 32 runs whereas Ramandeep contributed 15 runs.

From TNCC, Parveen and Raja Sheikh shared two wickets apiece. Raja Sheikh of TNCC was declared the man of the match.

The second match was played between Haryana Cricket Club and Rajput Cricket Club, Jammu. Batting first, after winning the toss, Rajput Cricket club Jammu garnered 99 runs for the loss of four wickets. Jasvinder played a fine knock of 24 runs while Asim contributed 21 runs.

In reply, Haryana Cricket Club could muster only 66 runs and lost the match. Deepak played a gutsy knock of 30 runs, but in vain. From Rajput Cricket Club, Gagan and Gurvinder Rumi scalped two and one wicket, respectively. Gagan of Rajput Cricket Club was adjudged the man of the match. 

Jammu, August 31
Poonch boys overcame the challenge of Jammu by 2-1 in the summit clash to clinch the U-17 hockey tournament being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports at KK Hakhu Astro Turf Stadium.

Ramandeep Singh was the star performer for the winner team who scored both the goals. Earlier, in the semifinals played, Poonch toppled Srinagar by 3-0 while Jammu overwhelmed Baramulla by 6-1.

Meanwhile in the girls section, Jammu drubbed Poonch by 2-0. Simran and Pooja of Jammu scored a goal each.

The matches were officiated by Amarjeet Singh, Harvinder Singh, Matinder Pal Singh, Mandeep Singh, Jarnail Singh, Varinder Sharma and Raman.

Gymanstics and tae kwon do events were also organised during the competition. Pawandeep Kaur of Jammu bagged the gold medal in the U-14 rhythmic gymnastics by securing 35.60 points while Mehak and Nandani had to be contended with silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In the U-14 girls artistic gymnastics, Suneha Dewan of Jammu claimed the gold medal by securing 6.80 points. Bableen Kaur of Jammu clinched silver medal by securing 6.50 points while Tanu Baloria of Jammu fetched bronze medal by securing 6.40 points.

The tae kwon do events in all age groups were also conducted. However, Jammu division eves beat the eves of Kashmir division in straight sets by 3-0 in the volleyball competition being played at the mini stadium, Udhampur. The set score read 25-12, 25-18 and 25-10. Yudhvir Singh, principal, Government Degree College for Women, Udhampur, was the chief guest on the occasion while Raj Guru, president, Volleyball Association, was the guest of honour.

Around 100 spikers drawn from two divisions participated in the tournament which was being held under the overall supervision of Sukhdev Singh, District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Udhampur.

In the U-14 girls, Jammu division beat Kashmir division by 3-0 sets while in the U-17 boys, Kashmir division prevailed over Jammu division by 25-12, 25-18 and 25-16.

The matches were officiated by Ashok Kumar, Manik Nargotra, Kuldeep Sharma, Pushap Kumar, Sanjeev Verma, Kulbhushan Kumar and Khalid Mohammad

Prominent among others present on the occasion were BB Sharma, vice-principal, GCW Udhampur, and Champa Devi, ZPEO, Udhampur.

Jammu, August 31
The Samba police today recovered a kidnapped girl from Mahanpur Kathua.

The girl, a resident of Chak Kana Hiranagar, Samba, belongs to the Gujjar community. She was kidnapped by a boy and as per a police source, there was a threat of communal clashes over the issue. But the timely action by the police cooled down the temper.

Police spokesperson said a police team, headed by Inspector Rajinder Khajuria, SHO of the Samba police station under the direct supervision of Koshal Sharma, in charge SP, Samba, and Munish Anand, DSP, HQ Samba, swung into action and raided different places. The police kept track on the movement of the kidnapper through surveillance of mobile phones and arrested the accused from Kathua.—TNS