Power Woes

Unscheduled power cuts

Jammu feels the heat

Ministers, bureaucrats believe more in meetings as good governance takes a backseat

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 7
Even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has deputed ministers at Jammu on rotation basis to conduct summer secretariat so as to ensure smooth functioning of departments, particularly those associated with basic amenities, dismal power and water scenario has badly affected life in the winter capital.
“After a brief relief a week ago due to rain and cloudy weather conditions, which had stabilised electricity supply to some extent, power cuts and scarce water supply are back to haunt us,” said Harvinder Singh, a resident of the densely populated Nanak Nagar.
“Unscheduled power cuts for hours together are a routine. Though we somehow brave the hot and humid weather, it becomes very difficult for small children and elderly people to cope up with the extreme weather conditions, he added.
Chief engineer of the Power Development Department Shehnaz Goni recently apprised Law Minister Ali Mohammed Sagar about the status of power supply in Jammu and other far-flung areas. Goni claimed before the minister that the PDD replaced the damaged transformers within 24 hours in Jammu so that the people did not suffer.
However, in reality, the department acts at its own will to replace the damaged transformers taking days together, said Harnam Singh, a resident of Digiansa.
And despite repeated attempts neither the Law Minister nor the chief engineer responded to the telephone calls, exposing “intentions” of the present regime in delivering good governance.
“Just a couple of days ago, electricity played hide-and-seek with us. My grandfather, who is an asthmatic patient, had to undergo a nightmarish experience because of frequent power cuts. After almost six hours, power supply was restored at 4 am. Now one can imagine the condition of an asthmatic patient in blistering summer when mercury hovers above 40 degree Celsius,” rued Amit Gupta, a resident of New Plot area.
When reminded that the present government is conducting Jammu secretariat to ensure efficient working, Gupta laughed at the initiative describing it nothing but eyewash. “Do you think politicians and bureaucrats really bother about the common man?” he asked.
Had it been so, the Chief Minister would have led by example conducting open darbar in Jammu as well, like the way he did in Srinagar soon after the darbar offices shifted there, he resented.
In the past two days, this correspondent tried to contact the PDD chief engineer and made at least 30 calls on her phone, but the official didn’t respond.
Meanwhile, acting upon Omar Abdullah’s instructions Ali Mohammmed Sagar, who holds the portfolio of Rural Development, Panchayats, Justice and Parliament Affairs also, will attend the Jammu summer secretariat for a week from June 6.
On Monday, he reviewed the functioning of various departments associated with delivery and regulation of basic services, besides pace of progress on developmental works across the region at a high-level meeting.
Pawan Kotwal, divisional commissioner, Jammu; Dilbagh Singh, IGP Jammu; Ajay Khajuria, director agriculture; Shehnaz Goni, Chief Engineer PDD; Vinod Sharma, VC JDA; Basant Rath, SSP Jammu; Vinod Luthra, SE PHE; PK Puri, SE PDD; and divisional-level officers of various departments attended the meeting.
The minister reviewed the functioning of the government departments with special reference to PHE, Irrigation, Jammu Municipal Corporation, PDD, CAPD, Traffic, Transport, UEED, JDA and Rural Development Department.

Baglihar Project

Second phase of Baglihar project a non-starter

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 6
People in electricity-starved Jammu and Kashmir may have to wait for at least four years for the completion of the second phase of the 900-MW Baglihar hydroelectric project over the Chenab in Chanderkote.
The first phase having three turbines of 150-MW each started in 1999 and was commissioned in 2008.
Managing Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Shalin Kabra said: “The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) gave us the techno-economic clearance in December last year and now negotiations are on with contractors.”
“In the second phase, an additional power house of 450-MW capacity will be constructed close to the existing one while the dam will be common,” he added.
Kabra said, “The CEA has carried out a detailed appraisal covering all aspects of the second phase, including possible objections by Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, but we do not anticipate any problem because we will be constructing only an additional power house.”
The managing director said, “Since the dam is going to be the same for the second phase, there are no changes in its design and there will be no attempt to change the course of the river, we do not think that Pakistan will have any objections to it.”
Kabra said the requisite spadework was being done. However, one of the executing agencies, which claimed that it had been given the contract of constructing the power house and allied works, including tunnels in 2004, awaited consent from the state government,he added.
“Since January, we are waiting for a nod from the state government and once we get it, it may take at least four years for us to come up with the underground power house and allied works,” said an official of the Jai Prakash Industries.
“Pakistan’s objections at the time of the first phase of the project pertained to the height of the dam for which it had approached the World Bank, which, in turn, appointed a neutral adjudicator, Prof Raymond Lafitte. Acting upon his report, we reduced the height of the dam,” he added.
In December 2006, Pakistan had recommended to Lafitte that the height of the dam should be decreased to 143 metre from the present 145 metre. India subsequently accepted the recommendation and implemented it in 2007.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had already given his approval for starting the second phase.

Newborn makes security forces nervous
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 4
A baby boy’s birth in remote and mountainous Doda district has sent the security forces, including the police and intelligence agencies, into a tizzy. Reason: The father of the newborn is a top militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who has been active for the past 11 years.
Official sources said the dreaded militant involved in murders also carried a reward of Rs 2.50 lakh on his head. Besides, three companies of the Army, one company of the CRPF and eight police pickets of the Doda police were on the hunt of this elusive terrorist, who was allegedly involved in 14 murder cases, they added.
While officials of various counter-insurgency forces and intelligence agencies are tight-lipped over the development, hospital records accessed by The Tribune stated that Shazia Bano, wife of Waseem Ahmed, a resident of Marmat, delivered a baby boy at the District Hospital, Doda, last evening.
A hospital official, who wished anonymity, said, “Shazia Bano, who was brought by her relatives, gave birth to a baby boy in the hospital labour room around 6 pm yesterday. She had a normal delivery and around 3 am this morning both mother and baby were discharged from the hospital”.
Her husband had not come to the hospital for obvious reasons because he had been underground, he said. The sources also stated that after Shazia gave birth to her second child last night, Waseem talked to her on a mobile phone, telling her not to talk to mediapersons, who had gathered on the hospital premises.
SP, Doda, Moahmmed Arif Reshu confirmed to The Tribune that Waseem was a wanted terrorist and his wife, Shazia Bano, gave birth to their second son. However, he refused to say anything further citing his busy schedule because of the ongoing panchayat poll.
The sources said, active for the past 11 years, Waseem was allegedly involved in 14 murder cases, including those of surrendered militants, security personnel and civilians. “It sounds interesting that a listed militant, badly wanted by the security forces, fathered his second child and it points towards the efficacy of intelligence agencies,” they added.
However, a senior police officer tried to downplay the development saying, “We all know that militants meet their wives and girlfriends on the upper reaches and jungles. In some cases in the past we had caught hold of such women from their hideouts”. This woman also might have met her husband in the jungle, he added.
Confirming the birth of Waseem’s second son, a local source from Doda told this correspondent over the phone that the militant now wanted to surrender so as to return to the national mainstream and start afresh as a law-abiding citizen.

Missing Merchant Navy Officer

Govt writes to Australian, Singapore embassies





Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Ramgarh, June 1
“Pappa Jaldi Ghar Aa Jao (Daddy, come home soon)”. Oblivious of the gravity of situation, three-year-old Simarpreet Kour had this message for her father, a young Sikh merchant navy officer, who has been reported missing from his tanker vessel off Australian coast since May 27.
While Simarpreet is too small to understand the unpleasant development, the state government’s has dashed off two letters to the embassies of Australia and Singapore, besides taking up the matter with the UPA government, renewing the hopes of the Sikh family in this border village. Vikram had joined the company just a year ago.
“Vikram Singh (30), second officer in the Japanese merchant navy company, Mitsui Osk Lines, had left the Fremantle Port in Australia on May 24 for Singapore, but on May 27 at 11 am (IST) we received a call from his company office in Mumbai informing us about the incident,” Chanan Singh Toor, Vikram’s father-in-law told The Tribune.
“Subsequently, on May 28 another official from the company’s Mumbai office, Captain Rajeev, came to meet us. It seemed they all parroted almost same answers to our questions. We were not at all satisfied with their replies,” said Toor.
“Even on the day when Vikram left Australia for Singapore, he had spoken to us, including his wife, on the phone before the signal snapped. In fact, his vessel had been almost 300 km into the sea from the Fremantle Port, but well within the coastal boundaries of Australia,” Toor added.
Vikram’s father-in-law said two days ago, the aggrieved family had faxed a letter to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and had also talked to his political adviser DS Rana.
“The state government has now written two letters to the embassies of Australia and Singapore, while Congress MPs Lal Singh and Madan Lal Sharma have also taken up the matter with the right authorities in New Delhi. It seems that the Chief Minister is serious about the case,” Toor said.
Industries Minister SS Salathia, former MP TS Bajwa and former minister Manjeet Singh have already visited the family and assured it of all possible help.
Toor has also written a letter to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Meanwhile, the wife of the young Sikh officer has urged the Central and state governments for help.
“I strongly feel that something terribly wrong has happened to my husband on the ship. So, I demand that the entire crew be arrested and interrogated. By now they must have destroyed all clues and evidences,” she said before breaking down. “A God fearing man, my husband never had enmity with anyone,” she added.

Prime Minister's Jammu Visit

On CVC, buck stops with me: PM

Says all parties should have a vested interest to ensure that peace prevails in the Valley

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria & Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Jammu, March 4

Facing criticism from the Opposition over choosing PJ Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today accepted his “responsibility over the issue”.
“I accept my responsibility,” he said while responding to media queries here this evening before flying back to New Delhi. He was on a one-day visit to the state.
MANMOHAN SPEAK
On CVC PJ ThomasThe highest court of the land (SC) has announced the verdict and I accept my responsibility…
Arbitrary arrestsIt (arbitrary arrests of Kashmiri youths) is not consistent with civilized norms…
Hostile separatistsI have not given up hope (on separatists joining the dialogue process)
Rangarajan panel report…deals with unemployment and the panel has made certain recommendations exploring the possibilities of jobs to nearly 1.5 lakh unemployed youths in the state
Ties with PakistanOur subcontinent will not realise its full development potential unless relations between India and Pakistan are normalised
Notably, the apex court had in its verdict termed Thomas’ appointment — the Prime Minister was part of the three-member panel that made the selection — to the CVC’s post as illegal.
Asked whether or not he was misled on the appointment, the Prime Minister said he respected the Supreme Court’s judgment invalidating his (Thomas’) appointment. “I have already said that I respect the Supreme Court judgment. The highest court of the land has announced the verdict and I accept my responsibility… I think it is our responsibility to ensure that such things don’t happen in future,” he said.
On the possibility of “summer unrest” in Kashmir vis-à-vis confidence-building measures initiated by the government, Manmohan Singh said all parties should try to ensure that peace and tranquility prevails in the Valley.
But, he pointed out, arbitrary arrests (of Kashmiri youths) should not take place. “It is not consistent with civilized norms… We have already asked the government to talk to all shades of opinion and take requisite measures to avoid any unrest this summer.”
In this context, Manmohan Singh also referred to a visit to the state by the all-party delegation last year and the efforts being put in by the interlocutors’ team to facilitate dialogue with all sections of the society.
On Rangarajan panel’s recommendations, he said many of them had already been implemented, which, in turn, had shown constructive results on the ground. The latest report “deals with unemployment and the panel has made certain recommendations exploring the possibilities of jobs to nearly 1.5 lakh unemployed youths in the state”, he said.
Regarding separatists who have so far refused to hold talks with the interlocutors, besides boycotting Round Table Conference in the past, the Prime Minister hoped that Hurriyat Conference would become part of the initiative to resolve the Kashmir crisis. “I have not given up hope.”
About the demands for rollback of laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act, he said if law and order situation improved then he saw no reason to keep them in vogue. “The Army also will be happy to perform its primary task.”
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister addressed the third convocation of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu. There, he said India wanted to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, with Pakistan. “Our subcontinent will not realize its full development potential unless relations between India and Pakistan are normalised.”
But despite all problems, he said, India had decided to resume the dialogue process. “We will enter into talks with an open mind. We wish to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries through friendly dialogue and constructive negotiations. And this includes the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.”
The Prime Minister said that India was willing to discuss all the issues that have a bearing on the peace, dignity and well being of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He, however, also seized the opportunity to remind Islamabad about the Mumbai terror attack. “We can not forget what happened in Mumbai. I urge the Government of Pakistan to leave no stone unturned to bring to book perpetrators of the heinous crime… It (action against extremist groups) would be in the interest of Pakistan, subcontinent and the world at large.”
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, Chancellor of SKUAST-J, urged various stakeholders to give an impetus to agriculture sector in the state. “About 72 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture and allied activities but the yield is far below the national average. In brief, we have stagnation in the agriculture sector… We need to introduce high-yield varieties, better cooperative societies, credit system and modern farming techniques,” he said.

Siachen Glacier

Keeping troops at Siachen India’s strategic compulsion

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 5

It is the Karakoram highway between Gilgit-Baltistan and China that compels India to keep her forces at Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield of the world in sub-zero temperature, where it has to spend nearly one million dollars a day to maintain its forces.
While New Delhi and Islamabad have failed to agree on the modalities for the demilitarisation of Siachen at the 12th Defence Secretary-level talks, it is Karakoram Pass, which has forced India to station its troops at Siachen, said defence sources.
“Some parts of Karakoram Pass, which connects Gilgit-Baltistan with China, is under our dominance. To put it more precisely, since we are sitting at a considerable height, some portions of it (Karakoram highway) is well within our range, and if we withdraw from the present position in Siachen, the entire advantage will be squandered away to Pakistan and China,” the sources said.
What China and Pakistan can do to us in the long run could be anybody’s guess, they said, adding that Pakistan would waste no time in capturing the strategic heights.
“Though India insists upon the actual ground position line (AGPL) and wants Pakistan to authenticate it on a map along which the troops are at present deployed, the latter wants us to withdraw to the positions that existed in 1984,” said the sources.
The AGPL is not clearly marked beyond NJ-9842, just short of Siachen Glacier, thereby triggering the dispute between the two nuclear countries. “Siachen has always remained strategically important for us and the growing proximity between China and Pakistan, via Karakoram Pass, has altogether made Siachen indispensable for us,” a source in the Defence Ministry told The Tribune.
While both countries at the end of the 12th Defence Secretary-level talks agreed to carry on the ongoing process, the matter of the fact is that we could not afford to lose the advantage, said the source.
In the last talks both countries had exchanged “non-papers” unofficially presenting their respective views to each other and this time around Pakistan, while describing Beijing as a party to the issue, wanted to involve China in the resolution of the Siachen issue, but India rejected it.
“With Pakistan in all sorts of problems because of home-grown terrorism, we have to be very careful before agreeing on something vis-à-vis Siachen. Chinese troops have already been sighted across the Line of Control, while Chinese companies, in tandem with Pakistan, are exploiting the vast natural resources of scarcely populated Gilgit-Baltistan. And going by the past experiences in Siachen, India must approach the matter very cautiously,” said the source.