Author: hamid

Srinagar: In a welcome gesture from the Sikh community, Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, established in 1947 and located along the Srinagar-Baramulla road, is going to be shifted to facilitate the construction of National Highway following an agreement on Thursday between the gurdwara management and the deputy commissioner, Srinagar.

The gurdwara served migrant families from Pakistan and remained a place to halt not only for the Sikhs but people of all faiths.

It organised langars (community kitchens) and social service initiatives. It also sheltered flood and earthquake victims.

In 2006, the government started construction of National Highway from Srinagar to Baramulla. Several utilities/structures remained bottlenecks under the highway alignment.

The Srinagar-Baramulla stretch is executed by the Border Roads Organisation while Anantnag-Srinagar part is done by the NHAI.

The road was completed in 2013. However, due to litigation in the High Court, four bottlenecks remained.

These included the gurdwara, a power line, a petrol filling station and water supply lines. A land owner whose land was proposed for relocation of gurdwara objected to it and obtained a stay in 2014. Ever since then the land owner, the gurdwara committee, collector land acquisition and the government have been locked in litigation.

Finally on Thursday, the gurdwara started making way for construction of the National Highway after successful talks between the gurdwara management and Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

After a series of meetings during the last one week and examining a host of options to resolve the issue, both sides arrived at an agreement. This included alternate land and reconstruction of the gurdwara at a nearby land finalised by the deputy commissioner in consultation with the Sikh community.

It was more of the strategic resolution than compensation. The community elders and the management of gurdwara Damdama Sahib agreed to the offer of the deputy commissioner.

On Thursday, in the presence of the deputy commissioner and gurdwara management members, the demolition of the gurdwara began.

The gurdwara will now function from a makeshift space till a new gurdwara is reconstructed at the agreed location. The state PWD has been entrusted with construction of the gurdwara as per the design provided by the Sikh Sangat.

The gesture of the Sikh community here has made history in Kashmir.

The administrative outreach of DC Srinagar to resolve the 13-year-long complex issue is an example of proactive approach for efficient resolution aimed at public welfare. — IANS

SRINAGAR: A fresh Western Disturbance (WD) has finally hit the region resulting in further chilly weather conditions in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, where isolated rain and snow could occur during the next 24 hours.

However, this will follow Widespread (WD) rain and snow in Jammu and Kashmir and scattered rain or snow in Ladakh region during the subsequent 48 hours, a Met department spokesman said this afternoon.

He said mercury continued to remain below normal in the valley, where air traffic at Srinagar International Airport remained suspended for the past four days due to dense fog, badly hitting several thousand passengers who were scheduled to travel outside the Kashmir. However, situation may improve tomorrow.

As the WD, which has originated in Arabian sea has entered the region from Afghanistan and Pakistan. This system could result in isolated very light rain and snow in the valley, including Srinagar during the next 24 hours, he said.

However, during the subsequent two days—December 12 and 13—widespread rain and snow is predicted which could again affect surface traffic, particularly on Srinagar-Jammu, Srinagar-Leh and historic 86-km-long Mughal road.

Dense fog coupled with icy cold winds badly hit the normal life in the Kashmir valley, including Srinagar, where the mercury remained below normal.

Srinagar, December 10: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday allowed service providers to start SMS service messages in the Valley so people, particularly businessmen, can receive messages from various banks, officials said.

Mobile subscribers in the Kashmir Valley will now be able to receive SMS messages generated from machines, the officials said.

SMS services were stopped as a “precautionary measure” on October 14, hours after postpaid mobile phone connections were restored in the Valley. Mobile connections were suspended on August 5 after the Centre abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the state into union territories. PTI

Srinagar: Authorities in Kashmir closed primary schools on Monday due to adverse weather conditions as heavy fog engulfed most parts of the Valley, also affecting flight operations at the Srinagar airport, officials said.

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan ordered the closure of all government and private primary schools on Monday in view of the adverse weather conditions, the officials said.

They said the decision was taken in view of the heavy fog which has been prevailing in the Valley for the past few days.

A thick layer of fog engulfed most parts of the Valley for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, affecting the visibility and causing problems to the people, especially motorists.

A Meteorological Department official said the foggy weather conditions in the Valley would remain till Tuesday.

“It is much better today (Monday) than it was yesterday (Sunday) when the foggy conditions remained throughout the day and got worse in the late afternoon. The foggy weather will remain till Tuesday after which there will be improvement,” the official said.

Fog disrupted the air traffic to and fro Srinagar airport as no flight operations took place in the morning because of the poor visibility, an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.

“The flight operations have been severely affected at the Srinagar airport and no flight has landed here because of the poor visibility caused by the heavy fog,” the official said.

He said several morning flights have been cancelled.

The flight operations have been severely affected at the Srinagar airport for the past four days.

On Friday, several flights were cancelled, while no flight operations took place on Saturday and Sunday. PTI

Srinagar had recorded the coldest night of the season on Sunday with a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius, resulting in the freezing of water bodies including the fringes of the famous Dal Lake besides the water taps in residential areas.

The mercury climbed several notches across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh due to overcast conditions on Monday even as the region braces for a fresh spell of snow and rainfall in the next couple of days, a meteorological department official said.

However, severe cold wave continues in the two Union territories with the minimum temperature continuing to hover several degrees below the season’s average.

“An active western disturbance is most likely to affect the UTs of J and K and Ladakh from Tuesday night to December 14 forenoon. Under the influence of this weather system, widespread moderate rain or snow is expected in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions,” the official said quoting an advisory issued by the department.

He said light rain or snow would commence at a few places in Kashmir on Tuesday night and thereafter increase in intensity and distribution.

“The main activity of this system will be moderate to heavy rain or snow, most likely during December 12 and 13 and gradual decrease thereafter,” the official said.

The system is likely to cause heavy rain or snow mainly in the Pirpanjal range of the Jammu division (from Bhaderwah to Banihal), upper reaches of Kashmir (Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Baramulla and Kupwara) and the Drass sub-division of Ladakh and likely to impact the surface and air transportation, he added.

Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, witnessed an increase of over five notches in the night temperature, which settled at minus 21.4 degrees Celsius, while Leh was freezing at a low of minus 14.9 degrees Celsius against the previous night’s minus 16.0 degrees Celsius, the official said.

He said Srinagar, which was reeling under cold wave over the past week, recorded a low of minus 2.9 degrees Celsius — 2.3 degrees below the season’s average, bringing some sort of relief to the people.

Srinagar had recorded the coldest night of the season on Sunday with a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius, resulting in the freezing of water bodies including the fringes of the famous Dal Lake besides the water taps in residential areas.

The winter capital, Jammu, also marked an improvement in the night temperature, which settled at 8.9 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees below the normal during this time of the season, the official said.

This year, the wintry conditions engulfed the region early following moderate to heavy snowfall, first of the season, on November 7.

Kupwara town in north Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the valley with a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius despite marking an improvement of over one degree, the official said.

The minimum temperature in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 3.7 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, he said.

Katra, which serves as the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of the Jammu region, recorded a low of 8.4 degrees Celsius, the official said, adding the Bhadarwah township of Doda district was, however, the coldest recorded place in the region with a minimum temperature of 1.8 degrees Celsius.

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday stressed on the role of effective policing in ensuring that women feel safe and secure.
His remarks came against the backdrop of recent cases of crimes against women which has triggered a public outcry.
Addressing a DGP/IGP conference at Pune, the prime minister also said officials must at all times strive to improve the image of the police force to inspire confidence among all sections of society including women and children.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that PM Modi was of the view that technology provides an effective weapon to ensure proactive policing that factors in the feedback of the common man.
According to the statement, the prime minister recognised the pulls and pressures confronting police officers in their day-to-day discharge of duties.
“However, he said whenever they are in doubt they should remember the ideals and the spirit with which they appeared for the civil services exams and continue to work in national interest, keeping in mind the welfare of the weakest and poorest sections of society,” the statement said.
Modi expressed his special interest for the development of the northeastern states which is critical for the government’s Act East Policy and urged the DGPs of these states to make extra efforts to create a conducive environment for the development programmes.

Srinagar, December 8: The air traffic to and from the Kashmir Valley was suspended on Sunday as the region was enveloped in a thick fog that reduced the early morning visibility to less than 100m.

A senior official at the Srinagar International Airport – the only civilian airport in Kashmir Valley – said all 28 flights scheduled to arrive in Kashmir valley were cancelled “due to very poor visibility”.

“All operations and flights were suspended today due to very poor visibility caused by the fog. If weather permits, we will resume the operations tomorrow,” the official said.

The official said the visibility during the early morning hours was “less than 100m”. The visibility partially improved during the day, but was not enough to resume the operations.
The visibility at 10 am was 500m and at 2 pm, it was 600m, the official said.

The suspension of air traffic is not rare during the winter in Kashmir Valley and has regularly happened due to inclement weather conditions that include snowstorms and poor visibility.

The thick fog across Kashmir valley including in the summer capital Srinagar, has continued for the second consecutive day as the region battles early winter and freezing climatic conditions.

An official of the Srinagar Meteorological Centre said the foggy conditions would continue in the region for the next two days, but the intensity will gradually decline. The official said there was a forecast for light rain and snow on Tuesday and Wednesday which will ease the foggy spell.

The Indian Meteorological Department, in its forecast bulletin, said the intensity of the precipitation would be maximum on Thursday and Friday with widespread rain and snow and also isolated heavy falls over Jammu and Kashmir.

Kashmir Valley has remained in the grip of severe cold during the past week as night temperatures across the region have plummeted several degrees below the freezing point.

In Srinagar, the main city of Kashmir Valley, and in other towns and resorts of the region, the minimum temperatures over the last five nights have been freezing.

The early arrival of winter has been marked by several spells of snowfall last month, which led to icy cold winds in the region and accumulation of heavy snow in the high altitudes areas and mountains.