NHPC to invest Rs 2400 cr in J&K

NHPC to invest Rs 2400 cr on 3 JV projects in J&K

Power utility NHPC today said it will invest Rs 2,400 crore on setting up three projects in J&K under a joint venture with Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation and PTC India.

The joint venture entity—Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd—will implement three projects having a total capacity of over 2,100 MW. These are: Pakal Dul (1,000 MW), Kiru (600 MW) and Kwar (520 MW).

"The total investment to be made by the joint venture firm will be around Rs 15,000 crore. NHPC’s equity contribution toward the entity will be around Rs 2,400 crore," NHPC Chairman and Managing Director A B L Srivastava said in an interview.

He said the joint venture company’s first project—Pakal Dul—is expected to be complete in six to seven years.

The three projects will be funded in a debt-equity ratio of 70:30.

Chenab Valley Power Projects was incorporated earlier this month.

In December 2010, Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation, NHPC and PTC India had inked a promoter’s agreement for setting up the new entity.

Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation and NHPC would have 49 per cent stake each in the joint venture firm, while the remaining shareholding would be with PTC India.

Out of NHPC’s installed capacity of about 5,300 MW, over 1,600 MW comes from J&K.

The company is presently operating four projects in J&K, having a total capacity of 1,680 MW. These are: Salal (690 MW), Uri-I (480 MW), Dulhasti (390 MW) and Sewa-II (120 MW).

The State-run firm plans to add another 690 MW of capacity by commissioning five projects—Chutak (44 MW), Uri-II (240 MW), Chamera-III (231 MW), the first unit of Parbati-III (130 MW) and Nimmo-Bazgo (45 MW) -- by March, 2012.

Currently, NHPC—the country’s largest hydro electric power producer—is engaged in the construction of 10 projects at various locations in the country, having a total installed capacity of 4,502 MW.

Qurrah for Hajj seats today

Consequent upon allotment of additional 1500 Hajj seats, the general Qurrah for 2746 Hajj seats for 2011 in Jammu and kashmir J&K will be held on June 23, 2011 at Mumbai, an official spokesman said.

According to jammu and kashmir  J&K State Hajj Committee Srinagar, the information regarding selected pilgrims for pilgrimage of Haj will be available on Hajj Committee of India website- www.hajcommittee.com- in the afternoon on June 23 and will also be published in leading daily newspapers on next day.

Out of total allotment of 7468 seats for the year 2011, 4722 have already been confirmed under different reserve categories.

J&K Haj Piligrims List 2011

Govt to recruit 50,000

In a bid to overcome shortage of staff in the departments manning emergency services in the State, the Government planned to recruit over 50,000 casual staff. The Government is working out a roadmap for the recruitment and the process would start as soon as the selection process was approved.

The Government Departments, which have been identified so far for engagement of casual staff, included Power, Public Health Engineering (PHE), Irrigation and Flood Control, Health and Medical Education, Education, Rural and Urban Development.

Some other Departments could also be incorporated in the list at the later stage, official sources said.

The Government is earmarking the Department wise posts.

Sources said the Government has taken a decision in principle to appoint over 50,000 casual staff in the Department, rendering emergency services to the people following reports by the authorities at the helm of affairs that they were facing acute shortage of staff in manning the services.

After a long drawn exercise, the Government has decided to overcome shortage of staff to provide emergency services to the people uninterruptedly by recruiting 50,000 casual staff.

Initially, it had been decided that Heads of the Departments in consultations with the Ministers would appoint the casual staff. However, the Opposition MLAs resented the proposal on the ground that it would lead to "pick and choose’’ policy by the Government.

The Government was now working on a new proposal for recruitment of casual staff. A Ministerial panel was holding consultations with the officials to work out a system to recruit casual staff without involving Services Selection Recruitment Board (SSRB) or any other recruitment agency.

Authorities were of the view that process to recruit casual staff can’t be handed over to a recruitment agency. More over, the agency could take a lot of time to recruit the staff while the Government wants immediate deployment of the staff to run the emergency services, sources said.

The emergency staff is proposed to be recruited on Rs 125 per day basis, a rate being paid to daily rated workers in different departments of the Government. The Government from Rs 110 recently revised the rates of daily rated workers per day to Rs 125 per day.

The Government was yet to take a decision on whether the casual labourers would be absorbed permanently in the jobs after seven years or not.

"An exercise is underway to work out all modalities of recruitment of casual staff. As soon as the modalities are finalized, the Government would start the recruitment process’’, sources said, adding the authorities were confident that the emergency services would start running smoothly to quite an extent with the recruitment of over 50,000 casual staff.

water shortage in jammu

Rs 1008 cr mega project for greater Jammu City faces shortage of 30 lakh gallons water
Despite construction of over 50 Tube Wells in and around Jammu by Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) in just last three to four years, the city of temples is still facing 3 MGL (30 lakh gallons) shortage of water per day while a Rs 1008 crore mega water supply project has been prepared for greater Jammu to augment water supply for next 30 years.

Like every summer, many areas of Jammu city are still facing acute shortage of water during these summer months despite claims of the concerned department to enhance the water supply. The city areas like Roop Nagar, Janipur, Indira Colony, Buta Nagar, Naseeb Nagar, Ploura, Durga Nagar, Muthi, Ban Talab, New Plots, Sainik Colony, Bathindi, Sunjwan, Narwal, Greater Kailash etc are still reeling under water shortage. Many areas get water supply just once a day and that too not for sufficient prescribed time period.

While the PHE authorities pass on the buck to the Power Development Department, claiming that long curtailment during summer affect the smooth supply of water to many areas because majority of the Tube Wells in Jammu were dependent on the electricity supply as the water is pumped. Though, Sitlee water supply point has brought a lot of respite this year after completion of work, yet overall shortage of water in the winter capital city is not yet over. Everyday, the people are staging protests on the roads in many parts of Jammu. Even the rural areas are badly hit. The areas like Samba, Kathua and parts of Akhnoor are also facing water crisis. They have to remain dependent on tanker supply during these hot summer days especially when all the natural water sources dry up.

Chief Engineer PHE Jammu region, B R Dogra, when contacted told the Excelsior that department was presently providing nearly 42 MGL of water per day to the population of over 13 lakhs in Jammu city. He said the net requirement of potable water against this population is 45 MGL of water per day. So, 3 MGLs of water shortage was still there.

Responding to a question Mr Dogra said through ERA over 50 Tube Wells have been constructed in Jammu city and nearly 16 MGLs of water supply is targeted after commissioning of all these Wells. He said though 49 Tube Wells have been completed and handed over by them but inter-connectivity of many of them was still incomplete. He disclosed that even less than fifty percent of this connectivity job has been performed. He however, claimed that when this task will be over the problem of shortage will also overcome. Out of the total 49, 30 are on left bank of river Tawi while 19 on the right bank (North side) of the city.

Mr Dogra pointed out that due to long power cuts the water supply is affected. He said over 205 Tube Wells were dependent on power supply. On an average 2/3 of them remain out of order due to mechanical fault and get affected due to power curtailment. Low voltage is yet another problem. It aggravates the problem during hot summer days. He disclosed that over 50 water tankers have also been deployed in Jammu city to cater to the need of the people during these summer days. For the next year, the department is planning to construct Boria Tube Well near Bagh-e-Bahu with the estimated cost of Rs 50 lakhs. It will provide additional one lakh gallons of water per hour.

When asked about future plans, Mr Dogra said a Rs 1008 crore mega water supply project, fetching water from river Chenab is being formulated to cater to the needs of Greater Jammu for next 30 years. The project has been prepared by ERA and is being submitted to the Government for getting final nod. He said in view of the increasing population, such project was must as Tawi will not be able to cater to the needs of large population in next 20-30 years, Mr Dogra added. 

Denial of visa to Jitendra Singh

Expressing resentment over the denial of US visa to a senior BJP leader from Jammu and Kashmir, the party today said separatists are getting easy visas whereas nationalist leaders are being denied the same and asked the Centre to spell out its stand on the issue.

"While the separatist leaders from Kashmir were promptly provided visas to travel to USA and other countries, the same were denied to nationalist leaders", said BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, asking the Government to clear its stand on the issue.

The BJP has also decided to take up the issue at the highest level with the American Embassy as well as the Indian Government.

The BJP was outrageous after its national executive member and chief spokesperson for Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh was denied visa and debarred from travelling to Washington as a member of the high profile eight-member BJP delegation to attend an interactive meet organised by "International Republican Institute" and Republican Party of America from June 20.

Hussain said this also raises a serious question mark on the functioning of Congress-led Government at the Centre and Congress-National Conference coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir which control the agencies providing inputs regarding leaders travelling abroad.

"Such incidents send wrong signals among the nationalistic and patriotic sections", said the BJP leader, adding that "We will not let the voice of patriotism get stifled".

Singh was to present the nationalist viewpoint on sensitive issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir, as well as India’s crucial foreign relations with Pakistan, China and other countries at the meet, claimed the BJP.

Accusing the Centre of being pro-separatist, Hussain said, "Such intimidatory tactics at the behest of separatist-friendly UPA would not discourage the BJP from stepping up its tirade against such forces". 

Teachers Federation demands HRA

All Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Teacher’s Federation held a meeting under the chairmanship of Ghous Mohammad on Tuesday. The meeting was presided over by Covener Maheswar Parasad. Speaking on the occasion Ghous said that the HRA in the rural areas be raised at part with Jammu City as dislocation allowance to remove the disparity with teacher’s working in rural areas. He reiterated various other pending demands to be reddressed at the earliest.
Others who also spoke include Sham Lal Sharma, Shakti Dutt, Shashi Pal Sharma, Subhash Chander and Maheswar Parsad.

Cracks in Gojawara Houses

Deadly cracks have surfaced in some houses at Chandpora, Gojwara in Shahr-e-Khaas as the earth beneath has caved-in thereby risking the life and property of people. Around 20 people living there have been rendered homeless due to the sudden cracking and sinking of the earth in the congested area.

THE GENESIS

 The locals said trouble erupted on June 15 when suddenly three of the houses developed cracks.

 “On looking for the cause of the fissures we found that basically the earth beneath had caved in,” said one of the affected Ghulam Hassan Koul while pointing towards the veranda of his house where the support pillar is hanging in the air.

MIGRATION

 Inside of the cracked houses revealed a scary picture. At least three rooms had drastically caved in giving a look of steep slope inside one of the houses.

 The incident sent the alarm bells ringing with the government asking the inmates to migrate from the affected buildings.

 “We have migrated on assurance from our MLA that the government would pay the rentals for our accommodation apart from providing us with alternative land,” the affected families said.

GOVT AWARE

 Sources said apart from the MLA Khanyar, the District Development Commissioner Meraj Ahmed Kakroo visited the site to review the matter. Kakroo is understood to have asked the department of Geology and Mining and other concerned agencies to look into the causes of the earth sinking. The report is expected to tabled soon after which the government will decide future course of action.

TROUBLE ELSEWHERE

 The locals said earlier this year in May the main road too had caved in at some places in the Gojwara area.

 “But that time the authorities didn’t pay any heed to the issue,” the locals said.

THE AFFECTED

 The affected  families, as per the locals include Ghulam Hassan Koul son of Muhammad Sultan Koul, Bashir Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Muhammad Bhat and Ali Muhammad Makhdoomi son of Ghulam Rasool.

Govt mulls rope connectivity for agriculture areas

Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir on Monday said that the Agriculture Department has taken up ropeway project for connecting the highly productive but inaccessible areas of Kishtwar to facilitate better and timely marketing of the vegetables especially the Kharif season peas, other agriculture crops and fruits.

Interacting with the farmers and officers of the department, Mir said that the project envisages connectivity of the highly productive but inaccessible areas of Kishtwar including Padder, Ligrie, Chitto, Ungai, Kabban so that the produces, especially the Kharif season peas, other agriculture crops and fruits reach the market in shortest possible time in fresh condition and without any bruises, blemishes or spoilage.

He disclosed that an amount of Rs.155 lakh is being utilised for construction of ropeway carriage system between Sohal to Kabban under RKVY Scheme and added that the project will soon be implemented.

The Agriculture Minister, who is on a tour to the district, visited saffron growing areas including the Saffron Development Farm of Department of Agriculture at Berwar, Poochal and other adjoining areas.

The minister highlighted various initiatives taken by the department to improve the farming practices and the living standard of the farmers of this resourceful but under developed part of the State.

He said that whereas the town and surrounding villages of Kishtwar were famous for quality saffron production, the higher hills had a great potential for organic production of vegetables and other crops particularly during the season when there is a scarcity of such items in the hot plains. He said the farmers of the area can get premium returns of their produce provided efficient connectivity is ensured.

Referring to the National Mission of Saffron, Mir said that an amount of Rs. 322.90 lakh has been earmarked for economic revival of the saffron sector in the district during current financial year.

“An area of 20 hectares is envisaged for rejuvenation through provision of quality planting material”, he added. He asserted the Saffron Development Farm at Berwar is proposed to be covered to the extent of 8 hectares.

Besides, all possible steps shall be taken to meet the critical requirement of water to the saffron crop at its critical growth stages to facilitate productivity enhancement to more than 5 Kgs per hectare as against the existing less than 3 Kgs per hectare.

The minister directed the agriculture officers to prevent any encroachment/ construction on the saffron land and bring every such instance to the notice of concerned district authorities and follow up the same vigorously to ensure that the saffron land is not converted to non-agricultural purposes.

He impressed upon the Agriculture Officers and extension functionaries of the Department in Kishtwar District to remain agile and work with dedication to take the improved technology to farmers’ door steps for their betterment.

Earlier, while talking to the farmers at Thathri, the minister directed the agriculture officers to hold awareness camps at Panchayat level and also appoint dealers for sale of seeds and fertilisers in each Panchayat.

The Director of Agriculture Jammu Ajay Khajuria who was accompanying the minister gave a detailed account of developmental activities implemented by the department under various schemes.

The Chief Agriculture Officer Kishtwar, Saffron Development Officer and other officers and functionaries of the department were also present during the visit. 

Employees to get Insurance Cover

Govt enters into agreement with Oriental company 4.5 lakh employees to get accidental insurance cover

In an important decision that would benefit over 4.5 lakh employees of the State Government, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), autonomous bodies including Local Bodies and Universities and all daily rated workers engaged before January 31, 1994, the Government today entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Oriental Insurance Company Limited for accidental death and disability insurance cover for the employees.

The MoU under ‘Group Janta Personal Accidental Insurance Policy’ for a period of three years was signed between the State Government and Oriental Insurance Company Limited few days back and would come into force from June 14, 2011. The MoU would be renewed at the end of each year.

Official sources said the agreement involved annual premium of Rs 90 only plus States taxes at the rate of Rs 9 per employee.

"The policy is compulsory for all categories of employees mentioned in the MoU and will secure them against accidental death and disabilities, partial or full’’, sources said.

In addition to about 4 lakh State Government and 30,000 PSU employees, the staff of autonomous bodies including Local Bodies and Universities and all daily rated workers, engaged by the Government Departments, PSUs and autonomous bodies on or before January 31, 1994 but who continued to work till date will be benefited out of the new scheme.

The employees would be covered for Rs 2.5 lakh in case of an accident. For disabilities, the insurance cover would vary as per percentage of the disability, sources said. The insurance company would pay the amount to nominees of the employee in case of their accidental death and to the employee himself/herself in case of disabilities.

Deduction of Rs 99 on account of insurance premium would be made by the Drawing and Disbursement Officers (DDOs) from the salaries of employees payable for the month of June 2011 and remitted to the Government treasury.

The Government has asked the DDOs of the Government Departments to furnish details of their employees in respect of whom the premium amount would be deducted and remitted to the Government account.

"It would be personal liability of DDOs/Managing Directors/CEOs/HoDs of concernedDepartment/Organisations to register every employee under this scheme with the Nodal Officer, Finance Department so that no employee is left out.

The Nodal Officer shall not be accepting any intimation of an accidental death or disability of any employee for processing insurance payments under the scheme unless full particulars are not made available in advance to him on or before 31st July, 2011.

"To ensure speedy settlement of insurance claims, intimations of accidental death or partial/permanent disabilities should be promptly sent to the Nodal Officer in the Finance Department directly by the concerned DD not later than 45 days from the date of accident’’, sources said.

They added that in the event of accidental death or permanent total disablement of an employee, as defined in the policy, M/s Oriental Insurance Company will, in addition to insurance cover as per the scheme, also be bearing one time education grant for the dependant children of the insured employee.

One dependent child below age of 25 years would get 10 per cent of capital sum insured subject to maximum of Rs 10,000 while more than one dependant child below age of 25 years would get 10 per cent of capital sum insured subject to maximum of Rs 20,000.

In the event of accidental death of an insured employee, Oriental Insurance Company would also be reimbursing the expenses incurred on transportation of the dead body of the deceased from the place of accident to his/her residence on actual basis or 2 per cent of the Capital Sum Insured (Rs 2.5 lakh), whichever is less.

Shree Hudh Mata Yatra from July 4

Shree Hudh Mata Trisandhaya Yatra in Dachhan area is scheduled to start from July 4 and continue till July 8.

The Yatra schedule has been issued by the Managing Committee Shree Hudh Mata Trisandhaya Yatra (Dachhan), Kishtwar which organises the pilgrimage every year.

As per the schedule, yatris from Kishtwar and outside the district, will proceed towards village Sounder, the base camp of the Yatra on July 4 from Shree Gouri Shanker Mandir Kishtwar. The Chhari Mubarak will be taken from Shri Radha Krishan Mandir Soundar on July 5 to Shri Virat Mata Mandir Dilgoot (Pandhara).

On July 6 after night haltage, yatra alongwith Charri Mubarak will proceeds towards Gokooth. On July 7 the Yatra will reach Kaikooth. On the same day the yatris will have a pious bath in Braham Sarovar and the holy waters of Trisandhaya Nadi (which flows from the top of a hill near famous Brahma peak thrice a day and starts drying from down level towards upper level). On July 8, a hawan will be performed for the well being of the humanity and peace in the State/country. After performing darshan of Shri Hud Mata and offering Puran Ahuti, the yatris will start their back journey.

The committee will arrange free langer facility for the yatris during Yatra period.

Tourists rush to Gulmarag

With soaring temperature outside state, tourist inflow to Kashmir is increasing to the world famous Dal Lake and Gulmarg which appears to be the main attraction for domestic and foreign visitors.

Thousands of tourists have thronged to gardens of Nishat Shalimar, Cheshma Shahi, Pari Mahal and Harwan along the periphery of Zabarwan hills overlooking the serene waters of the Dal lake.

Long queues of visitors were seen at the Botanical Garden which are witnessing huge rush of tourists as visitors enjoy visiting the garden to click pictures and make videos.

Hoteliers’, ponnywalas, and traders are hopeful of a good business now a day. Their only apprehension is that unlike summer last year, the summer ahead should remain peaceful.

“We are hopeful of a good business and so far tourist inflow to the valley is picking up. Visitors from foreign countries are in good numbers and almost every hotel here is doing a good business. We wish the summer this year remains violence-free and that will immensely multiply the rush of visitors in coming months too,” said an hotelier in Srinagar.

Like hoteliers, Shikariwalas and houseboat owners also expressed their satisfaction over the tourist flow and hoped that the rush will increase manifold in coming weeks. Cold winds blowing along the world famous Dal Lake in the evenings attract tourists to the lake.

Tourists take Shikara ride and many others prefer to stroll around Dal Lake in the evenings. The boulevard road witnesses huge flow of traffic especially in the evening as locals also move out to the banks of Dal Lake to pass leisurely time.

Public parks including the Zabarwan Park, Nishat and Shalimar garden also witness good flow of visitors and locals. Reports from Pahalgam said that good numbers of visitors were visiting the tourist destination and the hoteliers, traders and ponnywalas were doing a good business.

The state’s Tourism Department has also offered more programmes with added facilities to attract larger number of domestic and foreign tourists to the valley this year to boost the shattered economy through the major tourism industry.