Posts Tagged ‘Srinagar’
Written by admin on 08 February 2010
Srinagar, Feb 8 – At least six soldiers of the Indian Army were killed and 12 injured Monday when a massive avalanche struck a high altitude warfare training camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
‘A massive avalanche rolled down the Khilanmarg mountain, engulfing a high altitude warfare camp set up by the army there. Twelve injured soldiers have been shifted to a hospital. About 40-50 soldiers are still under the avalanche debris,’ a defence official said.
Rescue operations were on, the official added. There were around 300 soldiers in the camp when the avalanche struck.
A police officer said six bodies have been recovered from beneath the avalanche debris.
Tags: Srinagar
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Written by admin on 08 February 2010
Srinagar, Feb 8 – At least six soldiers of the Indian Army were killed and more than 450 trapped Monday when a massive avalanche struck a high altitude warfare training camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
‘A massive avalanche rolled down in the Khilanmarg mountain, engulfing a high altitude warfare camp set up by the army there. About 70 soldiers have been rescued so far from under the avalanche debris,’ a defence official said.
A massive rescue and relief operation has been started in the area.
A police officer said six bodies have been recovered from beneath the avalanche debris.
Tags: Srinagar
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Written by admin on 08 February 2010
Srinagar, Feb 8 – At least six Indian Army officials were killed and more than 450 trapped Monday when a massive avalanche struck a high altitude warfare training camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Tags: Srinagar
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Written by admin on 08 February 2010
Srinagar, Feb 8 – The Jammu-Srinagar highway remained closed Monday for the third consecutive day due to snow and slippery road conditions.
‘The highway will remain closed for vehicular traffic Monday as well because of fresh snowfall and slippery road conditions in Jawahar tunnel area,’ Senior Superintendent of Police Alok Kumar said.
All the 500 stranded vehicles carrying passengers and goods are parked at safe spots along the highway between Udhampur and Bannihal towns.
This highway is the valley’s main road link with the rest of the country and all essential supplies to the valley are routed through this road.
‘The minimum temperature in Srinagar was 1 degree Celsius Monday. It was minus 3.4 degrees in Kargil and minus 3.6 in Leh town,’ Sonam Lotus, director of the weather office here, told IANS.
The local weather office has forecast an improvement in the weather from Tuesday.
‘The weather would show improvement from tomorrow onwards though rain and snow are expected at many places in the valley during the next 24 hours,’ Lotus said.
The weather office in charge also said during the past three days there had been an uneven distribution of precipitation across the state.
‘Some places received heavy snowfall while others received moderate to little snowfall here during the last three days.’
Srinagar city received insignificant snowfall while it was heavy, accumulating to four feet on the ground, in holiday destination Gulmarg.
‘Kargil has received 25 cm of snow and likewise it has been heavy in Sonamarg, Pahalgam and other mountainous areas,’ the weatherman said.
The snowfall received during the past three days has been welcomed by the locals as the valley had hardly any snowfall during the past month.
‘All the valley’s agricultural and drinking water needs depend on the local rivers whose discharge depends on the availability of snow in the mountain reservoirs and glaciers,’ said Habibullah, a resident of Ganderbal district.
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Written by admin on 08 February 2010
Srinagar, Feb 8 – Strict security restrictions have been imposed in this Jammu and Kashmir summer capital to prevent a separatist march scheduled later Monday.
Curfew-like restrictions for the fourth day were enforced by the authorities in old city areas to quell violence and prevent the proposed separatist march to the office of the United Nations Military Observers’ Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip), located in uptown Sonawar area of the city.
The march had been called by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group who continued to remain under house arrest in his Nigeen residence on the outskirts of the city.
To thwart the march, police late Sunday arrested many separatist leaders and activists, including Muhammad Abdullah Tari, acting chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party headed by senior separatist leader Shabir Shah.
Shah was arrested here last week along with another separatist leader Nayeem Khan.
Road blocks and coils of razor-fitted concertina wire have been used by the security forces to obstruct all pedestrian and vehicular movement in the old city.
‘I could not get the morning bread today (Monday) as the area is completely closed with security men disallowing civilian movement,’ said Ghulam Rasool, a bank employee living in the uptown Sonawar area of the city.
Even in city centre Lal Chowk, where restrictions are not as strict as in the old city areas, there is very little pedestrian and vehicular movement.
All banks, markets, public transport and other businesses remained closed in the city and attendance in government offices was very thin because of non-availability of public transport.
Tension had started in the old city’s Rajouri Kadal area last Sunday when a schoolboy was hit on the head and killed by a tear smoke shell.
The death of another youth in the Nishat area of the city Friday heightened the tensions in the valley as relatives and locals said the youth had been shot by some paramilitary troopers without any provocation.
The state government has ordered a time-bound probe into the youth’s killing. The Kashmir divisional commissioner has been ordered to submit a report on it by Friday.
‘We have asked everybody who can help in the investigations to come forward and reveal the facts so that the guilty are brought to justice,’ said Naseem Lankar, Kashmir divisional commissioner, who is heading the probe.
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Written by admin on 07 February 2010
Srinagar, Feb 7 – Harsh curfew-like restrictions continued in the old city area of summer capital Srinagar, where fresh protests were held Sunday against the alleged killing of a 16-year-old student in Nishat area.
Hundreds of protestors shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans marched on the Nishat road along the banks of the Dal Lake this morning. The protestors held a massive demonstration outside the police station, demanding ‘severe punishment’ for those involved in the death of Zahid Farooq Sheikh.
Zahid was allegedly shot by security forces at Nishat near the Mughal garden Friday afternoon.
His relatives alleged that he was shot by security forces without any provocation when he was playing near Nishat Garden – a tourist hub on the outskirts of the city. He was immediately taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Zahid’s death came days after a school boy was killed last week when he was hit on the head by a teargas shell in Rajouri Kadal area of the old city.
The city has been on boil since then and Friday’s incident, which people blamed on security forces, heightened the tension. The police, however, Sunday morning didn’t stop the protestors.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered an enquiry into the incident and Kashmir divisional commissioner has been directed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to submit a report within seven days.
Authorities continued curfew-like restrictions in areas falling under five police stations in the old city for the fourth day in view of continued tension following the death of the two school boys.
The residents are facing acute shortage of essential commodities in the areas where pedestrian and vehicular movement was completely restricted.
State authorities are reviewing the situation and a senior police officer said restrictions will be lifted once ‘we feel the situation has shown improvement’.
The residents said security personnel didn’t even allow them to visit the medical camps set up to administer pulse polio drops to kids.
But a senior police officer said instructions have been issued to the cops to allow the parents to take kids to the camps in small batches.
Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has called for a march to the United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOG) office in Srinagar Monday to submit a memorandum to the observers.
Tags: Srinagar
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