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Only 5105 cases and 30 deaths reported in region so far, Officials say timely contact tracing, cooperation from people helped ensure effective fight against virus

Jammu: The Jammu province of the Union Territory has so far successfully managed to prevent the deadly COVID-19 from spreading as less number of cases and deaths compared to Kashmir province has been recorded in the region from past four months of the pandemic.

Only 5104 cases out of the total 22,396 cases detected in the Union Territory till August 04 evening were recorded in the Jammu province, the data available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) revealed.

Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has recorded over 415 deaths due to the virus while only 30 among them have occurred in the Jammu province.

Of 30 deaths in Jammu province, 21 have been recorded in the winter capital of the Union Territory alone, the data further revealed.

In Jammu province, several districts have managed to contain the spread of virus further after a few districts of Jammu province witnessed a spike in the number of COVID cases.

District Magistrate Poonch, Rahul Yadav told KNO that the battle against COVID19 is fought on multi-fronts. “Timely aggressive contact tracing, strict enforcement of restrictions wherever required and public support are basic things to combat the virus,” DM Poonch said.

He also said that awareness among the people is another basic need, which helps in containing the spread of virus.

Yadav further stated that cooperation from the public is of most importance because in the end its people who have to follow the precautions to keep this virus away from their village and keep their families safe.

Block Medical Officer (BMO) Kandi, Rajouri, Dr. Iqbal Malik termed aggressive contact tracing as a main weapon in the fight against pandemic.

“Almost three weeks ago, we came to know that a patient in home isolation has been tested positive after which we decided to go for aggressive contact tracing and the District Magistrate ordered immediate sealing of the entire area,” BMO said.

He added that for almost a week, they came up with mobile sample collection centers in areas of Draj, Kewal, Phalni and tested thousands of people and more than five dozen cases were reported and now there are no new cases in the area from the last few days.

“Aggressive contact tracing is must to contain the virus.” BMO said. When asked about public cooperation, BMO also termed awareness among masses and their constructive approach is imperative to fight against CoronaVirus.

“Regular exercise especially Yoga related exercises that increase air space volume in lungs, healthy lifestyle, healthy and nutritious diet that boosts immunity and most importantly safety precautions like use of face masks and social distancing are must for people,” BMO further added—(KNO)

Srinagar: In June this year, a five-year-old kid went with his father to Bijbehara. His father made him sit in his car and left their home in Kulgam.
His father had some work along with his brother at Bijbehara in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

At 12:15 pm, on that fateful day, his father disembarked from the car and told his son and brother to remain there since he would be back soon. Few minutes later, a gun fight broke out near their car. When his uncle started the car to run away, he looked at his nephew who was lying in a pool of blood.

“When he was rushed to Bijbehara hospital, doctors declared him dead. A bullet had pierced his body close to his heart,” one of his relatives told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

This is not an isolated case. There are hundreds of Kashmiri children who are victims of this conflict.

Some have been killed, blinded, while others remain traumatized.

One of the latest was a three-year-old child who witnessed the killing of his grandfather, in north Kashmir’s Sopore area.

Heart-rending images emerged showing how the three-year-old boy was on the body of his dead grandfather.

He and his grandson had left their house to bring their domestic help home from Handwara in north Kashmir.

According to the police, at about 8 am, as CRPF soldiers were disembarking for deployment, they were ambushed by militants, who opened gunfire on them. A CRPF trooper was killed and two more were wounded in the attack.

The family however claimed that he was killed by the CRPF.

“Papa Ko Goli Mari Policewale Ne (A policeman killed grandpa),” the boy says in a video, which has been shared on social media.

Similarly, a 14-year-old boy got grievously injured when a leftover shell went off in Tosa Maidan, a chain of meadows in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

He was in the ICU at SKIMS Hospital Srinagar for weeks. Doctors removed a piece of shell from his brain. The family has to spend thousands on medicines.

Spread over an area of 69 square kilometres, Tosa Maidan used to be an artillery firing range for army where unexploded shells have killed at least 65 civilians and maimed many more for years.

The government had leased land to the army in 1964. The army used the meadow as Field Firing Range (FFR) for practicing artillery fire until 2014 when the area was de-notified.

Same year, the army said it had sanitised the entire area in an 83-day-long operation. Still leftover shells are found there thus risking the lives of people especially people residing in its surroundings.

A 12-year-old boy died when a house collapsed after an encounter in Srinagar.

He along with hundreds of people had visited the encounter site after three militants were killed. The house collapsed when an unexploded shell blasted. He along with two more people died when the house collapsed due to the blast.

Children in Kashmir have grown up in the midst of abductions, encounters, bomb blasts, stone pelting and tear-gas shelling. Experts believe that in Kashmir the cycle of violence has affected the psychological level to such extent that behavioural changes in kids are visible.

According to a survey conducted by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organisation in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015, 45 percent of Kashmir’s population (nearly 1.8 million adults) shows symptoms of significant mental distress. (KINS)

Srinagar: Jammu Kashmir seems to be a main meat consuming region of India where 15 lakh ruminants are imported annually.

According to the news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS), the demand for the mutton is increasing with time and to meet it about 15 lakh small ruminants are imported into Jammu and Kashmir annually.

Similarly, the details say there is a requirement of 12 kg of poultry per person annually but the region faces a deficiency of 52 percent.
The main supply of mutton is imported from Rajasthan.

Kashmiris and people from several parts of Jammu are voracious meat eaters as compared to other Indian states. More than 80 percent of the population here are non-vegetarian.

Human population of JK comprises 1 percent of India’s population whereas the livestock population of Jammu and Kashmir constitutes 1.79 percent of the country’s livestock population (512 million).

It has pointed out widening gaps between demand and production of poultry and poultry products in Jammu and Kashmir.

“However, due to high cost of egg production under intensive poultry rearing (layers) in temperate zones, dependence on import of feed ingredients, and higher cost for providing controlled farm conditions for egg production-development a region pacific dual purpose bird for backyard poultry sector merits considerations,”

JK holds 77.14% of the country’s yak population, 20 percent of equine population and 5.21 percent of sheep population. The Jammu and Kashmir stands first in Yak population, second in equines, fifth in sheep, six in donkeys, and 17th in poultry.

Despite leading in numbers, the indicators emanating out of our livestock sector are a cause of worry. The engagement of people in this sector finally seems to have relegated to habits rather than robust economic activity.”

To make Jammu and Kashmir less dependent on imports, experts have suggested that the cross breeding of local sheep shall be initiated in the uncovered areas.

The experts have also pointed out that fodder scarcity, unorganized practices, smallholdings, disoriented pricing mechanisms, diminishing economic returns and ineffective regulatory mechanisms have further added to “woes” of the sector. (KINS)

Srinagar: Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today called the celebration of August 5 as hypocrisy while not even allowing the other leaders to discuss what is happening in J&K.

“BJP displaying its hypocrisy. They can gather & celebrate. The rest of us can’t even meet to discuss what’s happening in J&K,” he said in a tweet.

In one of the series of the tweets, he wrote, “One year later the authorities are still too afraid to allow us to meet much less carry out any normal political activity. This fear speaks volumes about the true situation on the ground in Kashmir.”

He also tweted, “Clearly the meeting is not being allowed to go ahead. The BJP gets to announce a 15 day celebration to mark 5th Aug & a handful of us aren’t allowed to meet in my father’s lawn. So much for BJP national leaders wondering why there is no political activity.”

Regarding the meeting called by Dr Farooq Abdullah, he wrote, “One year on, this is Gupkar road today – police vehicles opposite our gates, concertina wire strung across the road at regular intervals & no vehicles allowed. My father had called a meeting of leaders of mainstream parties to deliberate on the current situation.”(KNS)

PTI

Srinagar: A total of 25,000 non-Kashmiri migrant workers, out of the 40,000, who had left Jammu and Kashmir after the coronavirus outbreak, have returned to the Union Territory for work, a top official said on Wednesday.

A total of 3.2 lakh people, including the migrant workers, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir from outside since the nationwide lockdown came into effect on March 25, and all of them were subjected to COVID-19 tests.

“A total of 25,000 non-Kashmiri migrant workers, who had gone to their respective states after the coronavirus outbreak, have returned to Jammu and Kashmir,” Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) Pandurang Kondbarao Pole told PTI here.

As estimated, 40,000 non-Kashmiri migrant workers were engaged in different works in the Union Territory prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nationwide lockdown for the first time, migrant workers staying in different parts of the country became desperate to leave for their native places.

Due to the non-availability of transportation at that time, many of them had started returning home on foot, creating a humanitarian crisis.

Later, the central government started ‘Shramik Special’ trains for the transportation of the migrant workers.

Jammu and Kashmir has carried out COVID-19 tests of these 3.2 lakh people, including the migrant workers, who have returned to the UT.

Of these, 29,963 had arrived at the Jammu airport till August 4 and 48,680 in Srinagar airport. A total of 41,680 arrived at the railway station in Jammu while the rest came by road.

“Jammu and Kashmir is the only state which is carrying out COVID-19 test under the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method,” spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir government Rohit Kansal said.

“We are doing the highest testing and our mortality is lowest,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir has so far done a total of 6.63 lakh testing.

Testing for per million people is 50,853. The mortality rate in the Union Territory is 1.9 per cent.

In Jammu and Kashmir, so far 22,396 people have tested positive for COVID-19 of which 14,856 have recovered.

A total of 417 patients have succumbed to the deadly virus in the UT.

PTI

Leh: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Wednesday took over the security of the Leh airport, the country’s highest-altitude commercial aerodrome in the newly created Union Territory of Ladakh.

A contingent of 185 CISF personnel will provide round-the-clock, armed security to the strategic and “hypersensitive” airport, located at 3,256 metres above sea level, a senior officer of the paramilitary force said.

The Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), is the 64th civil airport to be brought under the cover of the CISF. It was being guarded by the local police till now.

Ladakh became a UT on October 31 after the central government on August 5 last year revoked the special status given to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The CISF, the 1.62 lakh personnel strong paramilitary, is designated as the national civil aviation security force.

A formal induction ceremony was held at the airport that was attended by CISF Director General (DG) Rajesh Ranjan, its special DG (airports) M A Ganapathy and airport director Sonam Norbu among others.

Norbu handed over a ceremonial key of the airport to CISF Deputy Commandant and chief airport security officer Sanket Gaikwar, the officer said.

DG Ranjan, the CISF officer said, “emphasised that coordinated efforts are to be made by all government agencies and stakeholders to ensure security of the Leh airport.”

Ranjan also asked his personnel to ensure “zero error” security at the facility.

On Tuesday, he had inaugurated barracks for the CISF personnel who will be posted to guard the facility and he reviewed other operational systems of the airport.

Air India, Vistara, GoAir and SpiceJet operate commercial passenger flights between Leh and Delhi. Commercial operations began at this “tourist intensive” airport in 1978.

A new passenger terminal is being built here at a cost of Rs 480 crore and is expected to be completed by September next year.

The CISF contingent will provide 24×7 armed cover to the facility and will check passengers while approaching the facility, at the terminal gates followed by comprehensive checks and body frisking ahead of boarding a flight.

The troops are armed with assault rifles like the AK series and the INSAS, and will man the airport perimeter from watch towers erected at vantage positions.

The force has a special aviation security group (ASG) to provide counter-terror cover to the airports and it has similarly taken over the Srinagar and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) international airports in February and March respectively.

Handover of the three strategically important and sensitive airports of Srinagar, Jammu and Leh to the CISF was expedited after Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Davinder Singh was arrested from Srinagar in January while he was allegedly ferrying three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to Chandigarh.

The Union government has said that CISF will be the only civil airports guarding force and all such facilities in the country will be gradually brought under its command to bolster aviation security and tighten anti-terror and anti-hijack protocols.

PTI

Beijing: China on Wednesday hoped that India and Pakistan can “properly” handle their differences through dialogue, improve relations and jointly safeguard peace, stability and development of both the countries and the wider region.

Responding to a question raised by a Pakistani correspondent on the completion of one-year of the revocation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two union territories–Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh–Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said peaceful coexistence between India and Pakistan serves the fundamental interests of both the countries and the international community.

“China closely follows the situation in the Kashmir region. Our position is consistent and clear. This issue is a dispute left over from history between Pakistan and India. That is an objective fact established by UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India,” he said.

“Any unilateral change to the status quo is illegal and invalid. This issue should be properly resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultation between the parties concerned,” he told a regular foreign ministry briefing here. China last year had called the Indian move as “unacceptable”.

“Pakistan and India are neighbours that cannot be moved away. Peaceful coexistence serves the fundamental interests of both and the common aspiration of the international community.”

“China hopes that they can properly handle the differences through dialogue, improve relations and jointly safeguard peace, stability and development of both countries and the wider region,” the spokesman added.

The comments by the spokesman came amid the border face-off between India and China in eastern Ladakh.

PTI

Srinagar: Security forces on Tuesday detected an improvised explosive device (IED) in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Army personnel found the IED by the roadside at Hamrey in Pattan area of Baramulla district around 5 am, a police official said.

He said a bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot and the IED was destroyed without causing any harm to life or property.

PTI

Jammu: The Pakistan Army on Tuesday opened heavy fire and shelled forward areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, drawing retaliation from Indian troops, officials said.

They said the Pakistan Army also heavily shelled forward areas along the LoC in Dabraj belt of Mankote sector.

“At about 0700 hours, Pak army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms & intense shelling with mortars along LoC in Krishnagati sector of district Poonch”, a defence spokesman said.

The Indian Army is retaliating befittingly, he said.

Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire 47 times last month and shelled areas along the LoC in Rajouri, Poonch, Kupwara and Baramulla districts on a daily basis in July.