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After 3 weeks, Baramulla-Banihal train may be back on track today
Despite losing men & machinery, Army has rescued over 61,000
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BJP, Shiv Sena protest Pakistan PM’s remarks on Kashmir
Over century-old records, books at HC lost in floods
Post-floods, saffron town Pampore resembles war-torn habitation
Armed Police begin clean-up drive in Srinagar
Relief material distributed among Batote flood victims
90% PHE infrastructure restored
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After 3 weeks, Baramulla-Banihal train may be back on track today
Srinagar, September 27 The railway track and bridge embankments at several places in south Kashmir were washed away by flash floods in south Kashmir, causing a huge loss to the Railways. Engineers of the Railway were working to restore the badly damaged track between the Awantipore-Kakpora and Anantnag-Bijbehara stations in south Kashmir. The Railways had started partial and limited operation from Srinagar to Baramulla last week. “After restoring the railway track, a trial run of the train was conducted today to Banihal. Hopefully by tomorrow we should be able to restore services to Banihal,” said a senior official. “The trial run was conducted to see the strength of the railway track from the Nowgam station in Srinagar to Banihal after the floods,” he added. The railway operations were suspended completely on September 5 after large areas of south Kashmir were inundated. Civil administration sources said a final decision about the frequency of trains to Banihal from Baramulla would be taken in a high-level meeting on late Saturday or Sunday morning. “We may not be able to run all the trains between Baramulla and Banihal as per our earlier schedule. It might take a few days before the train service is completely restored and all this will be decided in a meeting tonight or tomorrow,” a senior official of the J&K Government said. Before the floods hit the Valley, the trains in Kashmir were making 22 trips between Baramulla and Banihal. Most of these trips (12) were made from Budgam to Banihal. Six trips were being made by trains between Baramulla and Banihal. The train services was launched in Kashmir in 2008 and it is yet to be connected to the immense railway network of India. Being the cheap, comfortable and quick mode of transportation, more and more people have been turning to train travel rather than road transport. |
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Despite losing men & machinery, Army has rescued over 61,000
Srinagar, September 27 Two soldiers lost their lives in south Kashmir during the rescue operations. Besides, the floodwaters inundated half of the Badami Bagh Cantonment here. “A large number of soldiers and equipment was drawn from outside the area and the Valley,” said Lt Gen Saha. He said two soldiers lost their lives in the floods in Pulwama district of south Kashmir while its Sector 1 headquarters in Anantnag was submerged under six to eight feet of water. Almost 50 per cent of the BB Cantt in Srinagar was also inundated under 10 to 15 ft of water affecting the transit camp, Army Public School, ordnance depot, supply depot, workshop and helipad, he added. “We received a lot of requests for evacuation when the water level in south Kashmir areas rose on the night of September 3 due to overflowing of Lidder, Vishaw and Bringi nullahs. A major breach took place in the embankment of the Jhelum river at Pampore on September 4, inundating both sides of the town, said Lt Gen Saha. The floods hit Srinagar when a breach occurred in the embankment near the transit camp on the night of September 6, he said. The breach affected the BB Cantt and inundated almost half of it and the adjacent areas of Shivpora and Indira Nagar. Resources such as manpower and boats were drawn from north Kashmir and the supply was also drawn from Jodhpur, Jalandhar and Bathinda. However, the loss of lives in the floods is relatively low keeping in view the intensity of the floods, which is being attributed to varied factors. At least 126 deaths have been reported due to the floods. While a total of 61,121 people were rescued in the Valley, pressure mounted on doctors at 92 Base Hospital. Lt Gen Saha said. “To decrease the pressure at 92 Base Hospital, hospitals were also opened at Awantipora, Old Airfield and Zainakote.” Another hospital from Bathinda was made functional at Haft Chinar here. The hospital and 10 medical teams were transported from outside the state, he said. After two weeks of “Megh Rahat” operation, the Army initiated restoration of road links and other services. It also provided communication links to the state government after the telecommunication failure. “A major challenge now is to prepare people for the winter ahead in terms of shelter, blankets and clothing,” said Lt Gen Saha. “The Army is trying to do all in terms of cleanliness, health care, relief and assistance to the flood-hit,” he added. Counter-terrorist grid intact
“The Army, having been engaged in a massive battle against the flood fury, took calculated measures so as not to weaken counter-intelligence and counter-terrorist grid,” said Lt General Subrata Saha. At least nine militants were killed in three separate encounters along the LoC in Tangdhar, Keran and Machchil sectors of Kupwara district from September 4. Another militant was killed in Handwara area of Kupwara as calculated decisions were taken in the anti-militant operations, the GOC 15 Corps
said. |
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BJP, Shiv Sena protest Pakistan PM’s remarks on Kashmir
Jammu, September 27 “Such nefarious and blackmailing tactics of Pakistan should be strongly objected to and condemned by all. We should all stand firm and together to oppose such move by Pakistan which is a failed state and is controlled by military and militants,” BJP state spokesperson Sunil Sethi said in a statement here today. Sethi said: “Whenever Pakistan was embroidered by internal crises and chaos it chooses to go for India bashing in international forums “to divert attention of its public from overall failures of the government.” He said time has come for India to talk tough to Pakistan and frustrate all efforts of Pakistan to internationalise the issue. “The only issue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir is the evacuation of areas of J&K state in illegal occupation of Pakistan and those illegally ceded by it to China. India should make all efforts with strong government at the Centre to reclaim the areas rightfully belonging to it as per the instrument of accession which is final and complete and non negotiable,” the BJP leader said. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena and Dogra Front activists jointly held a protest against the Pakistan Prime Minister’s statement. The protestors raised slogans against Pakistan, and said Nawaz Sharif wants to turn the attention of people away from the internal turmoil. “The Pakistan ambassador in India should be sent back and the Pakistan High Commission should be shut down till the time Pakistan mends its ways,” Shiv Sena state president Ashok Gupta said. “The only concern we have is about the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where the people don’t have freedom and they don’t enjoy their fundamental rights,” Gupta said. |
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Over century-old records, books at HC lost in floods
Srinagar, September 27 The flood has destroyed the entire court record and case files which were stored in the record rooms of the complex at the ground floor and the basement. “Almost all the records and files are gone. The J&K High Court records even dating back to over 100 years are gone,” said Bashir Ahmad, a court official involved in the operation to retrieve the records. He said even the current record up to July 2014, including service matters, petitions, recent judgments delivered by the High Court were gone. Besides, the flood waters have also washed away almost the entire administrative and official records of the High Court, which would be difficult to retrieve. The flood waters had occupied the ground floor of the Court complex, its lobby, lawyers’ chamber, Bar library and record rooms. The worst part is that the officials involved in the cleaning operation are clueless about how to salvage and conserve the old, priceless court records and precious books. In fact, some senior officials of the court, instead of seeking scientific and expert advice on the conservation and preservation of records, were asking the Srinagar Municipality Commissioner GN Qasba and Director General, Fire and Emergency Services, who were on the spot to inspect the cleaning operation, how to preserve the prized possession. Principal Secretary to Chief Justice MY
Akhoon, meanwhile, said an assessment of damages was being done and it may take some time. The court officials involved in the restoration efforts, however, said it might take at least a week to restore the things in the court complex to some level. |
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Post-floods, saffron town Pampore resembles war-torn habitation
Pampore, September 27 The historic town is situated along the banks of Jhelum, 12 km from Srinagar city. Two days before the capital city was drowned by the worst-ever floods, the Pampore town was struggling to manage its existence. First Kadlabal was drowned, then the water fury hit Drangabal and finally it was the turn of Namlabal. “It was devastating. The water levels rose like rockets. In a jiffy, our ground floor was submerged,” said Ghulam Rasool Bassu, 80, who has seen the town drowning in a similar flood in 1950. More than a dozen houses have crumbled in the Drangbal area, but most of the other houses, visibly standing, have been rendered useless. At Kadlabal, a house-owner has covered a portion of the national highway with logs and stones to keep the loaded trucks and vehicles at a distance. “The rumbling vehicles are shaking earth. They can raze the soaked house to ground,” Nazir Ahmad Bhat, a local resident said. The town encountered a peculiar problem before it was hit by the flood. Around 4,000 local and non-locals, mostly labourers working in brick-kilns in the Lasjan area, had converged on the town. “The non-locals occupied graveyards and fallow land,” said Muhammad Ayoub. When the flood hit the locality, the inhabitants had no place to go. After two days, the government called in non-locals to Khrew for airlifting. The locals lament that three weeks after the floods, the administration has not taken cognisance of the damage. |
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Armed Police begin clean-up drive in Srinagar
Srinagar, September 27 “The cleanliness drive across city hospitals, orphanages and schools for specially abled children has been initiated so that these units can be made functional at the earliest,” the ADGP said. “The Armed Police will work tirelessly to enable speedy recovery of health care facilities for patients as other than Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, no hospital is currently operational in Srinagar,” he added. The Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police on Thursday organised free medical camps at Tengpora, Forensic Science Laboratory, Bemina, and Pamposh Colony, Qamarwari. Doctors from Fortis Foundation, Police
Hospital, Srinagar, and Sub-District Police Hospital, Zewan, provided free consultation and medicine to patients. In the coming days, the Armed Police are planning to organise such camps in areas which haven’t been reached so far. |
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Relief material distributed among Batote flood victims
Batote (Ramban), September 27 Firdoz was accompanied by Sub-Judge, Batote, Pawan Kumar Sharma. The relief material comprised clothes and packets of biscuits. A medical camp was also organised on the occasion, where over 200 persons were examined and given free-of-cost medicine. The medical team was headed by Block Medical Officer, Batote, Dr Manzoor Ahmed. Firdoz, on the occasion, informed people about the noble gesture of the High Court for the victims in each of the affected 20 districts of the state. He urged the victims to avail the services of
free-of-cost legal aid clinics or lok adalats for resolving their disputes with the district administration or others. |
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The Kashmir train service, which was suspended on September 5 after flash floods hit the Valley, is likely to resume operation from Baramulla in north Kashmir to Banihal in the Jammu region tomorrow.
Battling one of the worst floods in the past six decades and facing the wrath of civilians, the Army rescued over 61,000 people and provided health care and relief assistance to several others.
Jammu, September 27
Srinagar, September 27
