Category: Union Territory

PTI

Srinagar: Heavy rainfall over the past two days in Kashmir has brought respite from the rising temperatures as the mercury has plunged by several degrees across the valley, officials said on Thursday.

They said the continuous rainfall across Kashmir since the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday has also brought relief to the farmers as the valley had reeled under dry weather conditions over the past three months.

Srinagar city recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius on August 17 which was the hottest August day in the last 39 years.

The mercury in the city and elsewhere in the valley had stayed above the normal by several degrees this month.

However, the rains have brought down the temperature with the city recording the maximum of 22.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday which is 13 degrees lower than what it recorded on August 17, the officials said.

The maximum temperature in Srinagar is 6.6 degrees below the normal for this part of the season, they added.

The other places in the valley also experienced huge relief from the hotter days due to the rains as the mercury went down by several degrees.

Srinagar recorded 14.7 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am this morning since Wednesday and 19.6 mm during the Tuesday/Wednesday night, the officials said.

They said Qazigund recorded 21.2 mm rainfall, Pahalgam 8.2 mm, Kokernag 28 mm, Kupwara 23 mm and Gulmarg 32.8 mm.

A weather advisory by the MeT Office predicted flash floods and landslides in vulnerable parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

“IMDs experimental model shows that the soil at various places of J-K, especially the Jammu region is fully saturated and has low water absorbing capacity. Continuous rain may lead to flash flood and landslide at vulnerable places,” the advisory read.

It said the weather system may lead to disruption of traffic on Srinagar- Jammu National highway, Srinagar-Leh highway and the Mughal Road.

The MeT office has said the heavy rainfall will continue across the valley till the evening of Thursday, after which there will be a gradual decrease.

The weather will improve and will be sunny from Friday afternoon, the MeT office said, adding that the weather is likely to stay dry over the next few days.

According to sources a Cordon and Search Operation was launched in late hours of night on 26 August, 2020

Further details awaited

With inputs from KNT

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has arrested a suspicious person from Delhi’s Vijay Chowk, sources said on Wednesday (August 26, 2020).

Photo Credit: Zee Media Newsroom

According to reports, the man, who claims to be a resident of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, was caught roaming around the Parliament House. He was nabbed by the CRPF personnel on duty over his suspicious activity.

During his initial interrogation, the man gave misleading information to the CRPF men about himself. A document, which was recovered from him, contains some information in codewords.

Two identity cards – one Aadhar card and a driving license – have been also been recovered from his possession.

Both the IDs have different names. While the driving license is in the name of one Firdaus, the name mentioned in the Aadhaar Card is Manzoor Ahmed Ahanger.

The man hails from Rathsoon Beerwah in Budgam district of J&K. A bag has also been found from him. According to the CRPF officials, the arrested person has been changing his statements which aroused further suspicion about him.

First, he said that he had come to Delhi in 2016. Then he said that he had come to the national capital during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. He told the CRPF officials that he has been staying in Delhi since then. The man, whose identity is not clear yet, said that he first stayed in Jamia locality, then near the Jama Masjid area in Nizamuddin.

He has now been handed over to the Delhi Police, which is questioning him at the Parliament House Police Station. Information about him is also being shared with various other agencies.

In September last year, a 25-year-old man was arrested for trying to enter Parliament allegedly with a knife. The man was identified as Sagar Insa, a resident of Laxmi Nagar in Delhi.

With inputs from DNA India

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

PTI

Jammu: In a swift action, the Indian Air Force on Wednesday rescued a civilian who was left stranded on a marooned island in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.

Heavy rains battered most parts of Jammu region, including Rajouri, over the past two days, leaving the water bodies swollen.

A message was received in the evening regarding an individual stranded on a marooned island following overflowing river south of Naushera. An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter of the Helicopter Unit captained by Squadron Leader Ganesh Prasad Honakuppe was immediately pressed into service to rescue him, the spokesman said.

He said the helicopter reached the spot at 6.15 pm.

The crew quickly selected an appropriate spot to position the helicopter close to the ground since no suitable space was available for landing. Two Garud special forces commandos were then lowered onto the island and reached the individual who was in shock and was unresponsive, the spokesman said.

The man was then evacuated to the nearest landing ground available at Naushera Army area and handed over to the authorities for further treatment, he said.

The IAF responded swiftly and rescued the individual before the water level could rise to dangerous levels during the night. The overall mission was very closely coordinated by Group Captain Sandeep Singh, the spokesman added.

Pulwama: Aadil Rashid Bhat of Charsoo-Batpora village of Awantipore in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district who recently announced that he has joined militant ranks, Wednesday qualified the Bachelors of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS) with distinction.

Aadil has secured over 80 per cent marks in 3rd semester of BUMS, the result of which were declared on August 25 (Tuesday).

BUMS student from Awantipora area who announced his joining few days before has secured over 80 percent marks in 3rd semester of BUMS examination whose result was declared a day before. Adil has got 897 out of 1100 marks—more than 80 per cent. Adil’s 3rd semester BUMS result comes barely a few days after he joined militant ranks.

Altaf Ahmad, brother of Aadil told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that after checking the result of his brother, he came to know that Aadil had secured distinction in 3rd Sem BUMS. “All the family members felt sad,” Altaf said. “My brother was a brilliant student and has secured 94 per cent marks in Class 10th examinations. In class 12, he secured 90 per cent marks.”

One of Aadil’s friends said that he was a genius and very intelligent boy. “All of us are in a shock how he took such an extreme step of joining militancy,” he said. “My friend was a very unique in his character as he was helping all his friends and was always trying to make things easy for everyone.”

A senior police officer said that they also came to know that Aadil was a brilliant student but unfortunately he choose a different path.

“Surrender option is always available and his family members must try to bring him back,” he said, adding that “if he will be brought back, he will allowed to resume his studies after legal formalities.”— (KNO)

2019 recorded 34 per cent decline in tourist footfall, reveal official documents

Srinagar: Following the abrogation of Article-370 and the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry in Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a revenue loss to tune of over Rs 1168 crores while in 2019 there has been a decline of 34 percent in tourist footfall.

The officials in the tourism department have calculated this loss on account of non-functional tourism industry in Kashmir division on the basis of hypothesis of the tourist arrival and their expenditures.

Official documents available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) reveal: “The loss of tourism industry in Kashmir Division is Rs 1166.81 Crores (approximately) on account of non-functional tourism industry from January-04-2019 to June-30-2020.”

This information was revealed by the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the tourism department in a reply to the queries of a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the RTI activist M M Shuja.

“During the year-2018 the number of domestic and foreign tourists visited Kashmir valley was 8,307,58 while as the tourist arrival during 2019 was reported as 56,553,2 which shows there is a decline of 34 percent in tourist footfall and which happened in the aftermath of constitutional changes on August-05-2019,” the PIO said.

In a reply to RTI queries, the PIO of tourism department said that during the year 2020, the tourist arrival from January to ending July is 17,874 which shows drastic decline in tourist footfall which happened due to Covid-19 Pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

“Assuming that if a tourist visits to Kashmir valley and spends at least of Rs 20,000 during the stay, then the amount spent by tourists during the year 2018 works out as a total number of tourists multiplied by Rs 20,000 that is Rs 1661.52 crores,” it reads

The PIO said that similarly during the year 2019, the amount spent by the tourists could be charted out as the total number of tourists (5,65,532) multiplied by Rs 20,000 is equal to Rs 1131.06 Crores.

“Besides, during the year 2020 upto ending July, the amount spent might work out as 17,874 multiplied by Rs 20,000 is equal to Rs 35.75 Crores,” he replied.

The PIO said, “It is clear that after assuming the tourists who visited Kashmir valley have spent a minimum of Rs 20,000 each from January-04-2019 to July-31-2020 works out as Rs 1131.06 and Rs 35.75. Hence, the loss of revenue on account of non-functional of tourism industry in Kashmir Division is 1166.81 Crores (approximately) on the basis of assumption referred above.”—(KNO)

PTI

Jammu: A man in Reasi district here was duped of over Rs 19 lakh by a gang of cyber fraudsters led by a woman who claimed to be an official in the RBI Forex Department, New Delhi, officials said Wednesday.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Crime Branch on Wednesday registered a case against Soni Sharma and her six associates, mostly residents of Delhi, after preliminary investigation established prima facie offence against them, a spokesman said.

In his written complaint, Ravinder Singh Nag of Katra claimed that he was deceived by Soni, who identified herself as an official of RBI, Forex Department, New Delhi.

He alleged that she conned him by claiming that she had a huge sum of money with her and was interested in establishing business with partners in the country.

Nag complained that Soni promised him huge return on his investments and thus duped him of his hard earned Rs 19, 33,174 which he transferred to different accounts as advance tax money and other expenditure, the spokesman said.

Other accused are named Roto Kuldeep, Nadeem Khan, Harish Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Kamil Ali (all from Delhi) and Rakesh from Nagaland, he said.

PTI

Jammu: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire on Wednesday by firing and shelling on forward posts and villages in three sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, a defence spokesperson said.

The Indian Army gave a befitting reply and the cross-border shelling between the two sides was going on when the last reports were received, he added.

The spokesperson said Pakistan initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing from small arms and shelling with mortars in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors around 6.50 pm.

There was no report of any casualty on the Indian side, he added.

Srinagar: Indicating how Jammu and Kashmir is vulnerable to floods, at least floods were declared or water level rose above danger mark nine times for the last five years in the state.
It has been seen over the years that a few hours of rain are enough to create a flood scare in the state.

As per official figures, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, the authorities have declared floods at least nine times since 2014.
As per the figures, the floods hit the state in September 2014. The water level also increased above the danger mark or created flood like situation in March 2015, April 2015, June 2015, July 2015, September 2015, April 2017, June 2018, and June 2019.

The Union Ministry of Water Resources in December 2014 asked the state government for framing of the detailed project report for the 80-km Dogripora flood channel to be constructed from Awantipora in south Kashmir to Wular Lake in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
As per news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS), under this mega project, a Rs 18,000 crore flood channel was to be created to carry the surplus flood discharge of Jhelum.

According to a disaster management report, 13 districts in J&K, out of 100 districts in India, have been identified as ‘multi-hazard districts’.
“Majority areas of the valley, especially Sonawari, Awantipora and Srinagar, along with parts of Jammu are prone to floods. Upper catchments of all the tributaries of the Jhelum, Indus, Chenab and Tawi rivers are prone to flash floods,” the report said. All these areas were worst hit by September-2014 floods and are prone to floods.

While the recent study says that out of the 12 states, Assam, Mizoram and Jammu & Kashmir are extremely vulnerable to global warming.
“Based on this assessment, the vulnerability index is found to be the highest for Assam (0.72) and Mizoram (0.71), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (0.62), Manipur (0.59), Meghalaya and West Bengal (both 0.58), Nagaland (0.57), Himachal Pradesh and Tripura (0.51 both), Arunachal Pradesh (0.47) and Uttarakhand (0.45). Sikkim is the least vulnerable state with the index being 0.42,” the study says.

It says that, “Several drivers of vulnerability are evident for the state of J&K. These include, in the order of significance, least road density, no area under crop insurance, low area under forests per 1,000 rural households, high percentage of marginal farmers, low percentage area under horticulture crops, low livestock to human ratio and low percentage of women in the overall workforce.”

The study says that climate change is already occurring and impacting natural ecosystems and human societies.

It says, “To reduce these uncertainties and plan towards sustainable development it is essential to adopt evidence based adaptation planning in IHR. This requires an in-depth understanding of the key risks and vulnerabilities derived from scientific assessments.”

The study has been authored by IIT Guwahati Anamika Barua Associate Professor Deptt. of Humanities and Social Science Principal Investigator Rupam Bhaduri Research Scholar Centre for the Environment Vishaka Gulati Research Scholar Deptt. of Humanities and Social Sciences IIT Mandi Shyamasree Dasgupta Assistant Professor School of Humanities and Social Sciences Co – Principal Investigator Kritishnu Sanyal Project Associate School of Humanities and Social Sciences Mir Khursheed Alam Research Scholar School of Humanities and Social Sciences IISc Bangalore N.H. Ravindranath Professor Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST) Key Resource Person Indu K Murthy Consultant Scientist Centre for Sustainable Technologies Tashina Esteves Research Associate Jagmohan Sharma Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Forest Conservation) Government of Karnataka.

It is to mention here that last year the government had decided to conduct a safety audit of river embankments of Jhelum and other streams.

“Chief Engineers of Irrigation and Flood Control department have been directed to conduct zoning of river Jhelum and other streams and conduct safety audit of river embankments of Jhelum and other streams especially at vulnerable spots and plug it at an earliest besides also conduct physical survey of the encroachments in nallahs and rivers and ensure their immediate removal and store geo bags in advance,” the government had said.

The government had further informed that the DCs have been directed to collect an information of resources, including men, low lying areas, satellite phones, availability of geo quality of sand bags, JCBs, ambulances, tents, dewatering pumps, evacuation plan, storage of essential commodities, list of nodal officers, water tankers, water supply schemes, NGOs working for disaster management.

After 2014 deluge, the government had announced that dredging of river Jhelum would be completed by December 2016 to prevent floods in future.(KINS)

PTI

Srinagar: Over 700 new cases of coronavirus were detected in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 34,480 while the death toll reached 657 with 19 more fatalities, officials said on Wednesday.

Fifteen deaths were reported from Kashmir and four from the Jammu region, they said.

“Nineteen persons infected with coronavirus have died in Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours till 5 pm on Wednesday,” the officials said.

Meanwhile, 704 fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from the Union Territory, taking the total number of infected persons to 34,480 in Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.

Among the new cases, 195 were from the Jammu region, while 509 were from Kashmir, they said.

Srinagar district reported the highest number of 198 new cases, followed by 98 in Jammu district, the officials said.

There are 7,630 active cases in the UT, while 26,193 patients have recovered from the infection so far, they said.