Sharp increase in pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine

Sharp increase in pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 9
Even though the Navratra Festival this year lasted for eight days, the number of pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine saw an impressive improvement. An increase of 29,071 pilgrims was witnessed this time as compared to the last year.
As per the Hindu calendar, there were eight Navratras (from September 28 to October 5) this year. The number of pilgrims, which was 2,90,313 last year during nine days, was recorded at 3,19,394 this year in eight days.
A senior official of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) told The Tribune that the favourable weather conditions and good hospitality arrangements made by the administration and the local hoteliers were the major reasons behind the increase in number of pilgrims.
“There is almost 10 per cent increase in the pilgrims as compared to the last year. Had the festival lasted for nine days, the number of pilgrims would have crossed the 3.5-lakh mark,” said the official.
The pilgrimage figures accessed by The Tribune also revealed that the total number of pilgrims, who had paid obeisance at the cave shrine so far was 12.56 lakh more as compared to the corresponding period last year.
Till October 8 this year, as many as 77,57,979 pilgrims had visited the cave shrine, while 65,02,203 pilgrims had paid obeisance during the corresponding period last year.
“This year the SMVDSB is celebrating its silver jubilee celebrations and the number of pilgrims is also expected to touch a remarkable figure after breaking all previous records. Last year, the total number of pilgrims visiting the shrine was 87.49 lakh, which we are expecting to cross by end of November,” he added.
Officials of the Tourism Department termed it a big success in terms of pilgrimage tourism. “The co-ordination and hard work of the officials have brought positive results. The Governor NN Vohra and Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora also took keen interest in the arrangements during the festival,” said Robin Singh Mehta, Director, Tourism Department, Jammu.

Lack of staff, testing facility hinders anti-adulteration drive

Lack of staff, testing facility hinders anti-adulteration drive Archit Watts/TNS

Jammu, October 10
With the festival season on, the authorities concerned have started a vigil on persons indulging in food adulteration. But there is only one public analyser to conduct tests on food samples collected from different markets of the city.
The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), the Directorate of Health and the Legal Metrology Department keep a check on this illegal practice. All these departments submit food samples for testing to the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) on the Canal Road here but the IIIM is already overburdened. The lack of testing facilities at the IIIM is reportedly hindering the anti-adulteration drive.
JMC officials say sometimes they face problems while dealing with food adulterers. They add due to the delay in sample testing the cases against defaulters also weaken. As a result, food adulteration is going on unchecked despite the fact that the authorities concerned collect a number of samples everyday and destroy huge quantities of adulterated milk and other adulterated food products.
Raman Sharma, a banker, said, “Diwali is approaching and sweet shops have already started preparing sweets. How can we know whether the sweets are adulterated or not when the departments concerned are facing staff shortage to keep a check on food adulteration?”
Health Officer of the JMC Mohammad Anwar Choudhary said, “Though we launch drives against food adulteration, sometimes the sample testing gets delayed. We often request the IIIM officials to get the tests done at the earliest.”
He added, “With the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, recently we are hopeful of getting a permanent solution to the problem.”

Tunnel closed for repairs, commuters inconvenienced

Tunnel closed for repairs, commuters inconvenienced Archit Watts/TNS

Jammu, October 8
Commuters on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway 1A had a harrowing time today, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) closed one tunnel at Nandini village, about 30 km from here, to carry out repair work.
Long queues of vehicles were seen on the highway, as the tunnel meant for traffic from Srinagar to Jammu was closed in the wee hours today.
Though NHAI officials allowed traffic to move through another tunnel, commuters were inconvenienced.
A huge traffic jam increased the journey from Jammu to Srinagar by almost two hours, which normally takes eight hours.
“After crossing Nagrota there was a traffic jam, as vehicles were stranded. Though the authorities were allowing the vehicles to move through another tunnel by blocking traffic from the other side after repeated intervals, the huge rush of vehicles made the situation worse,” said Dharam Parkash, a resident of Jammu, who was travelling to Srinagar.
The highway is the only surface link between the Valley and the rest of the country. The pilgrims, who come from other states to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine have to pass through this tunnel to reach Katra.
MK Jain, in-charge of the NHAI, Jammu and Kashmir, said, “The floor of one tunnel was badly damaged during the monsoon recently. So, we closed it for vehicular movement this morning to construct a concrete floor. It won’t get damaged easily now.”
Jain added, “The entire exercise will take nearly 24 hours and after that it will be thrown open to traffic. The highway is open as the second tunnel is being used for two-way traffic.”

Officials busy celebrating Wildlife Week, sick animals not treated

Officials busy celebrating Wildlife Week, sick animals not treated Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Vicky Singh with his parrot outside the Wildlife Dispensary at Manda Hills in Jammu on Saturday. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Jammu, October 8
Though the Department of Wildlife Protection has celebrated Wildlife Week by organising a number of awareness camps, the people, who have been visiting its head office at Manda Hills here with sick and injured animals and birds, were allegedly ignored.
The visitors were not attended to as the department officials had been busy organising a cultural programme for the closing ceremony this morning.
Vicky Singh, a florist from Sarwal market, alleged that he took his parrot to the Wildlife Dispensary, where an official told him to go to some other hospital in the city. “My Mithu (parrot) has not been able to fly since last evening. When I brought it here the official at the dispensary told me to go to some other government hospital,” alleged Vicky. He added, “The department asks people to save the wildlife, but at the same time its staff don’t even care to attend to the injured animals and birds.”
Vicky said, “Mithu is living with us for the past one and a half year, but his sudden illness worries me. I requested the official at the dispensary twice to call the doctor, but to no avail.”
Abdul Wahid, in-charge of Deer Park, who was at the dispensary, said, “This man came here with a parrot and told me about its illness. When the doctor is not there, how can the bird be treated?” He added, “I asked him to go to some other hospital in the city as the Wildlife Week celebrations were going on here.”
Meanwhile, the incident took place when students from various schools of the city were presenting colourful programmes there. They were dressed up as animals and trees. All senior officials of the department, including Upender Pachnanda, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), witnessed the celebrations at the auditorium.

Health Minister suggests changes in design of maternity hospital

Health Minister suggests changes in design of maternity hospital Archit Watts/TNS

Jammu, October 7
Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma today directed the officials of the health department to make some changes in the design of the 200-bedded maternity hospital, which will come up in the Government Hospital complex in Gandhi Nagar here.
“It seems the proposed building requires some changes. It should be constructed in ‘L’ shape. Some empty space is also required in the centre of the building for ventilation. So, we have decided to call the architect and I will personally discuss the changes with him,” said Sham Lal while he was on a visit to the hospital.
“The maternity hospital has to come up after dismantling two buildings, one of which has the office of Deputy CMO. As soon as these buildings are evacuated, we will be able to start the construction of this much required hospital,” said Sham Lal.
“We will also make private wards on two floors of the hospital, with the capacity to accommodate at least 40 patients,” said the Health Minister. “The government is very keen to develop the healthcare infrastructure in the state and all possible steps are being taken for the purpose,” added Sham Lal. 

State expects bumper yield of paddy, maize

State expects bumper yield of paddy, maize Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 6
With a favourable monsoon this season, the Agriculture Department is expecting bumper yield of summer crops paddy and maize. The monsoon, which had arrived well before its scheduled time this year in the state, proved extremely good for the growth of both these crops. There was nearly 900mm of rain during the rainy season.
SS Jamwal, Joint Director, Agriculture Department, said: “This year, we had distributed hybrid seeds to farmers, which have given good results. As per a fresh survey, the crops are ready for harvest and the total sowing area of these two crops has increased as compared to the past.”
“This season, paddy was sown in 1.12 lakh hectares in Jammu division, which is expected to give a yield of 2.05 lakh metric tonnes,” he added.
About the maize crop, Jamwal said it was sown in 2.08 lakh hectares and was expected to give a yield of 4.2 lakh metric tonnes in Jammu division.
Hopeful of getting a bumper yield this year, the farming community is also in a joyous mood. “The timely rains and advisories of the Agriculture Department have given us a good result. The harvest season has started and the quality of grain is much better than the previous years,” said Dharam Singh, a paddy grower at Dablehar village.
Another farmer, Suraj Sharma, at Bishnah said: “The short spell of rains proved good for maize, as longer rains can prove detrimental to the crop.”
Meanwhile, Ajay Khajuria, Director, Agriculture Department, said: “In the past few years, we have done extensive work in seed development and farming practices. The favourable monsoon and hard work of farmers, field officers have given a boost to the production.”
The next year, the department will take some more initiatives to improve the quality of paddy and maize, he added.
RICH HARVEST: Labourers work at a paddy field near RS Pura in Jammu. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

MIDDLE: Tractor (son) of a farmer

Tractor (son) of a farmerby Archit Watts

A tractor is not just a tool to irrigate the farmland. It is more like a son to almost every farmer and there are a number of stories related to it.
It was a quiet, cool and breezy Sunday morning of summers in 2005. I was then a B.A. (Hons) final year student in Government College-11, Chandigarh. I and my friends Manreet, Gagan, Amninder, Dilpreet and Nitin were discussing how to get success, name and fame in life.
Suddenly, Amninder got a call from his father on the cell phone. All of a sudden, he disappeared from the scene leaving us all clueless. His absence disturbed us to the extent that we started a manhunt. After a long search, we found him sitting outside the swimming pool in a pensive mood.
When we asked him the reason, he broke into tears. Without giving any second thought to the matter, Manreet snatched his cell phone to know what actually was disturbing him.
Had his girlfriend broken up with him? That was the only question cropping up in our minds. After going through the call details, we came to know that the last received call was from his home and not from the 'estranged' girlfriend, much to our relief. Then one of us offered him a glass of water to soothe his nerves and again started thinking over the possible reasons troubling our dear friend.
On our repeated attempts, he broke his silence and disclosed that his father had earlier sold two acres of land (in Sangrur district) to ensure his studies in Chandigarh. Now, it was the time for his younger brother to get admission in some private college to join the MBA course in Chandigarh. His family had no other option but to sell off their old tractor —which was just like a family member to them — so that his younger brother could also realise his dream.
Nowadays, when I switch on my television set, a famous song: “Jatt Ne Ford Tractor Vechya Ro Ro Ke” (Jatt sold off his Ford tractor with tears in his eyes) reminds me of the plight of my friend's family.
The song not only presents the true picture of the "grim and gloomy faces of farming community" but also reminds me of Amninder, who went to Australia on a student visa like most of Punjabi youngsters who prefer to secure a job and citizenship abroad to live a decent life. 


Courtesy: The Tribune