Srinagar, Oct 29: BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, who is also party incharge of J&K , prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled the dream of former prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the day Article 370 was abrogated.
Speaking to Media , the BJP leader Tarun Chug said abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A) was the dream of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Atal Behari Vajpayee. “Late Shyama Prasad Mukherjee launched Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan movement in 1950 along with Late Vajpayee. The duo used their strenuous efforts to take the mission forward. However PM Modi abrogated the Article 370 & 35(A) on August 5, 2019 and thus accomplished their dream”, Chugh said.
Responding to former chief minister of J&K Omar Abdullah who in an interview to electronic media had said there is vast difference in approach of Late Vajpayee and PM Narendra Modi as Vajpayee Jee had adopted pro-Kashmir dogma of Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiryat. But today is reverse. I am sure snow will melt and spring will come”, Omar had said.

While criticizing NC vice president, the BJP leader said that Omar Abdullah is frustrated with the arrival of BJP in J&K, as the business of his party’s Shahi Dawa Khana got closed. He said Omar and his father always played in the hands of Pakistan ISI and kept people of J&K to fight each other depriving them of every basic right.
“Both father and son have become frustrated who are speaking trash. With the arrival of BJP in J&K, the NCs Shahi Dawa Khana got closed whose sole and fundamental aim was to keep people of Jammu and Kashmir to fight each other”, he said.
He also said NC’s three generations have looted every resource of J&K and filled their own coffers with gold and diamond, but deprived locals from even basic facilities. “These leaders have been rejected as masses came to know their double speak and their anti-national ploys, he added.

SRINAGAR: In a worrying trend, South Kashmir districts are seeing a fresh spurt in the number of drug addicts while fewer drug abusers are visiting the drug de-addiction facilities set up by the government, officials said.

Health officials, wishing not to be named said around one percent of the total drug abusers are turning up to addiction treatment facilities functional in all hospitals of J&K and the number is minuscule in southern districts.

Figures suggest that the addiction treatment facility at GMC Anantnag in 2020 recorded arrivals of 267 drug abusers in year 2020 followed by 638 in the year 2021 and over 400 visits in the ensuing year.

Dr Mansoor Dar, Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry GMC Anantnag told that 90 percent of drug abusers visiting the ATF facility Anantnag are heroin abusers and around 65 percent of the heroin abusers are Intravenous Drug Abusers (IVDA) who are prone to HIV and hepatitis.

He said that most drug abusers don’t visit these facilities due to social stigma and even around 40 percent of the drug abusers visiting ATF don’t follow up due to financial and other issues.

Even there are 30-40 percent chances of relapse among those who completely follow up treatment due to peer group, economic and employment issues, he said, adding that, as a doctor they count the number of drug free years of such persons and due to relapse doctor feels dejected.

He said that the majority of people involved in drug addiction are of the 15-30 age group and the main reasons behind it are peer pressure, drug availability and modelling etc.

It is unfortunate that when a person uses drugs for years together, parents remain unaware and till then there is no social stigma, however, when a person decides to leave it, there comes the stigma, he said, adding that, when a person decides to quit an addiction, he needs support and encouragement which most of them, parents, friends and friends don’t do.

When society has failed to stop youth from taking drugs, we need to help them, remain emphatic towards them and stigma is to be accepted by patients, family and the treating doctor, he said.

Parents need to be more vigilant and take care of their children fully so as to keep them away from drug menace and they need to support children to get rid of it when they somehow get involved in any kind of addiction, he said.

SRINAGAR: While Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) is yet to announce the power curtailment schedule officially, consumers from different parts of the Valley are complaining of pesky power cuts and low voltage.

The residents of various parts of Kashmir sought LG Manoj Sinha’s immediate intervention stating that “we want to know why the power department has resorted to unscheduled morning and evening cuts despite LG’s assurances of providing uninterrupted power supply during winter.”

The residents from different areas of Srinagar including Naseem Bagh, Malbagh, Habak, Kanipora, Zaffran Colony, Kangan Sub Division in Ganderbal and other areas said that the electricity plays hide and seek ahead of the winters while the low voltage has caused immense hardships to them.

“Although there has been no power curtailment schedule by the government, one fails to understand why the concerned department has resorted to frequent power cuts,” Mubashir Ahmad, one of the consumers said.

He added that the upgradation of power infrastructure was giving high hopes to the people about the uninterrupted power supply, but the department seems only focussed towards charging hefty sums as the monthly tariff while the mandatory supply like in the past has gone for a toss yet again.

“We have been going through the statements of the administration about uninterrupted power supply for the last two years now, but it seems the power woes in Kashmir would continue to haunt the people always as the frequent power cuts continue to push the people to the wall,” another consumer from Zaffran Colony, Srinagar said. He said that during evening hours, there is a curtailment from 7 to 8 pm and then again from 9 to 10 pm.

“Similar curtailment is being done during morning hours. It is either 8 am to 9 am or 10 am to 11 am. This is really strange. Winter is yet to start and there is no official announcement on the power curtailment schedule. We fail to understand why such irritating power cuts take place,” said Adil Bashir, a consumer from the Sonwar area of the city, adding that LG Manoj Sinha must intervene and seek a report on the issue as this all is happening despite his assurances and directions.

He further added that besides the frequent power cuts, the low voltage is further adding to their miseries. “The voltage in our locality remains too low nowadays. We don’t understand for what reasons, we are being supplied the electricity as it is of no use at all,” he said.

Chief Engineer, KPDCL, Javed Yousuf Dar, said that the fresh curtailment schedule is to be announced after November 10, but claimed that the power cuts are the outcome of ongoing works like the upgradation of transmission lines, branch cuttings and other things.

Banihal , October 29 : A youth from Banihal injured in a scooty accident on October 17 succumbed to his head injuries at SKIMS Srinagar last night, officials said on Saturday.

Atif Majeed Khan, 24, an engineering graduate and working in ABCI Railway Company constructing railway Tunnel in Banihal, was injured when the scooty he ans his friend were riding collided with a car on the evening of October 17 on 4 lane highway near Banihal.

Atif was seriously injured and was shifted to SKIMS Soura where he died last night, an official said.

Atif was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at Chareel Banihal Saturday morning and nimaze jinaza was attended by hundreds of people.

Srinagar, October 29:Police on Saturday seized a school van for overcrowding as well as posing safety threat to the school children in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

A police spokesman said that today morning, a van bearing registration number JK01P-4582 overcrowded with school children was intercepted at IG road near Peerbagh by police and it was found that though the seating capacity of the vehicle was 07 only but the same was packed with 13 school children hence posing serious threat to them.

The vehicle was seized under relevant provisions of M.V. Act and the school children were dropped at school (Al-Mustaqeem Islamic School Hyderpora) in an alternate vehicle.