Infrastructure Deficiencies Take Toll on Mental Health

Substance abuse runs rampant in Kashmir

Drug Addicts in Kashmir in Lakhs, Treatment Insufficient

Bismah Malik (Kashmir Times)

Srinagar: The serious threat of drug addiction which according to Kashmir’s renowned sociologist Dr. B.A Dabla might consume the next generation of the valley, has been left unaddressed in Kashmir. The only two drug de-addiction centres run by the State Police are registering an unprecedented rush of patients who are forced to wait for their treatment schedules to begin, due to lack of infrastructure there.

Drug de-addiction centre statistics reveal that 3500 patients visited the centre from March 2008 to October 2010 with 462 patients registered for admission but due to unavailability of beds, the patients were kept waiting for months after registration. A United Nations International Drug Control Program Survey in 2008 revealed that there were 70,000 people battling drug addiction in the valley and their current projection of the same being 2 lakh. A Drug de-addiction cum Rehabilitation Center “Rahat” at Gousia Hospital in Khanyar since its establishment has treated 8853 out patients for drug abuse related health problems. In a matter pf 90 days, approximately 213 indoor drug abusers were hospitalized here.

The only government Psychiatric Hospital, Srinagar which treats psychiatric diseases inflicted by drug abuse records an alarming increase in the number of patients of drug abuse from 2000 in 1989 to 1 lakh patients in 2011. The Hospital treats approximately 2000 patients a year with drug related problems. Experts say that 90 per cent of patients are in the age bracket of 17-35 years. In what could be termed as a false approach at curbing the drug menace, for the patients with the problem of substance abuse, there are no separate provisions of OPD /IPD or rehabilitation facilities and they are treated alongside patients with mental-illness.

An official at the Govt. Psychiatry Hospital attributes the same to the lack in infrastructure as well as professional staff. For that matter, the infrastructure at two Drug De-addiction Centers (DDC) run by Police is even worse. Each of the DDC has a ten bed capacity which by all standards does not comply with the requirements.

Faizan Khan, a young social activist who runs Mukhtar Memorial Society, an NGO involved in drug de-addiction campaign in the valley informs that drug abuse awareness programmes are minimal especially among the most vulnerable group of school and college going students. In a drug de-addiction programme, Faizan run at a Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Saida Kadal, the faculty told him that these programmes need to be carried out on a sustainable basis to see the eradication of drug menace.

“The staff though hesitant , did agree that the city school students are increasing falling prey to drug abuse problems and that a majority of the times, the children and their parents do not come forward in addressing this burning issue. The social stigma associated with the drug abuse in the valley is still very much prevalent. The school administrations feel a need to include moral education in the schools and families to uproot this evil,” Faizan added.

The youngest drug abuse victim in Srinagar Police Control Room ‘s seven bedded additional facility in Batamaloo is a 13 year old heroin addict .On an average, two to three fresh cases of drug abuse are reported here every day. The doctors here hold that if such facilities were present in all the major locations of the valley, the number of such registered cases of drug abuse would run up to many lakhs.

Panchayat Raj in Name Only

Rekha says that the conceptualization of Panchayati Raj institutions in J&K neither properly follows the criterion of democratic governance, nor that of extension of federal structures

(Prof. Rekha Chowdhary, 57, was born in Jammu and has been a university teacher for the past 30 years. She is currently the Professor of Political Science, University of Jammu. During her distinguished teaching career, she was the visiting Fellow under a Ford Foundation grant at the Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford, in 1992-1993; winner of the Commonwealth Award availed at the University of Oxford, 1997-1998; and the Fulbright Fellow availed at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, in 2005.)

The Question of Empowerment

With a year having passed after the successful conduct of election of Panchayats, the issue of empowerment of Panches and Sarpanches is still unresolved. This is despite the noise being made by the political class in the state. Not only the leaders belonging to the opposition parties but also the ruling Congress have been ‘demanding’ the empowerment of Panchayats and as if on clue, the leaders of the National Conference have also been making a commitment, almost on daily basis that the government is going to empower the Panchayats.

The seriousness of the government in this process, in the beginning, was reflected in the appointment of a high-level committee to suggest the desirable changes in the existing Panchayati Raj system. Since long, the Committee headed by the Chief Secretary of the state, has offered a number of recommendations. However, the Panchayats continue to remain as powerless as these were.

Certainly, there is a vested interest that is inhibiting the process of empowerment of Panchayats – the interest of those in whom the powers are concentrated right now. But there is no justification for concentration of powers in a truly democratic and federal system. The process of empowerment of Panchayats in democratic and federal systems is a matter of ‘right’ and not the matter of charity. It is not for the governments to make a choice whether to ‘give’ power to the Panchayats or not, but a matter of ‘obligation’.

It may do us good to revisit the concept of panchayats in order to understand as to what is being involved in the demand for their empowerment. Panchayat, as a concept has ceased to be merely an ‘administrative’ institution and is now to be understood more as an institution of ‘grassroots governance’ and a ‘third tier of federal system’. As an institution of grass root governance, it is helping democracy acquire depth, especially in states where local Panchayat Acts have followed the spirit of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments. Here Panchayats not only allow people to be involved in the matters of local governance but also in enforcing accountability and transparency. The three-tier Panchayats, at the village, block and district levels provide the opportunities to people to be involved in planning, in preparing and implementing schemes relating to their economic development and social justice and, in administering the matters of local concerns. It is also providing the people belonging to marginal sections an opportunity to acquire the role of local leadership. Millions of women, members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs have attained the status of political elites at the local levels via the system of Panchayats. It is for this reason that the Panchayati Raj system is celebrated for bringing about a ‘silent revolution’ in India. But for this system, these backward and peripheral sections would not have had access to political power at the grassroots levels.

However, besides the democratic context, there is the federal context in which Panchayats are conceptualised. Due to the initiation of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment, the concept of federalism in India has undergone major transformation. The two-tier federal system has been extended, with an additional level being added to it. While the original federal context provided only a division of powers between the Centre and the state, now the powers have also been divided between the State and the Panchayats. The eleventh and twelfth Schedules of Indian Constitution (that have been inserted via 73rd and 74th amendments) provide for the matters which are now to be placed exclusively in the jurisdiction of the Panchayats. What is signified by this? First, that the pattern of governance that we are familiar with has undergone fundamental change. To the two levels of governance – Central government and State government, the governance at the Panchayat level has been added. Second, the powers of the Centre government, State government and Panchayats are exclusive and do not overlap. Third, the powers at each level are clearly delineated and guaranteed. Rather than being ‘delegated’ or ‘defined’ by the government at the higher level, these powers are ‘inbuilt’ in the institutions of that level of governance. As regards the powers of Panchayats therefore, these are not to be seen as powers to be delegated by the state government, but rather the powers that are already located in the domain of Panchayats. Fourth, a legal-constitutional arrangement is required that ensures that the state government does not encroach upon these powers.

The conceptualisation of Panchayati Raj institutions in J&K neither properly follows the criterion of democratic governance, nor that of extension of federal structures. It also does not fully aim at the ‘silent revolution’. It is half-hearted attempt to introduce the minimal structures of Panchayat without a larger vision as to what these structures are aimed at. Had it not be the case, the principle of democratic governance would not have been missing at the block and district level panchayats; the panchayats (and the Municipal bodies for that matter) would have remained in place continuously and between their dissolution and new election, there would not have remained a time gap; the matter of empowerment of Panchayats would have been resolved by a constitutionally guaranteed division of power between the State and Panchayats; the Finance Commission would have been put in place and awarded the financial powers to the Panchayats; reservation for women, SCs and STs would not have stopped at the level of Panches but would have extended to the Sarpanches and to the Block and District level Panchayats…

The ideological lag in conceptualisation of Panchayati Raj Institutions in J&K is ironical given the fact that this state had started with an ideological blueprint in the name of ‘New Kashmir Manifesto’ which had not only committed itself to the socio-economic reorganisation of the state but also a people-oriented political system. This manifesto talked of a political system ‘based on democratic principles of responsible government, with the elective principle applied from the Local Panchayat right up to the National Assembly’. Article 17 of the Manifesto written in 1944 had offered a decentralised structure of power at the district, block and Panchayat level.

A Native's Agony

Fayyaz and his fellow residents of Budgam have thoughts of Azadi - but it is the day to day Azadi they have in mind

(Mr. Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, 49, was born in Bodina, Budgam, and received his primary and secondary education in Budgam and later at Amar Singh College, Srinagar. He completed his Master's degree in Kashmiri language and literature from the University of Kashmir in 1987. After working with Rashtriya Sahara and Kashmir Times in 1993-94, and later for 13 years as Srinagar Bureau Chief of Daily Excelsior, he is woking as Resident Editor/ Srinagar Bureau Chief of Jammu-based English daily Early Times since April 2009. He is also a filmmaker whose forte in audio-visual media is Kashmir's composite culture, heritage, ecology and social issues. Since February 2008, he has been regularly anchoring Take One Television's bi-weekly hard talk show "Face To Face With Ahmed Ali Fayyaz" which is watched by more than three million viewers in Srinagar, Jammu and other urban areas of Jammu & Kashmir.)

Peace Gave Budgam Neither Development nor Rule of Law

Residents want Azadi from rape of ecology, callous administrators; they won't listen to Omar's musings on AFSPA and NCTC

Budgam: Budgam has a history of loving peace and the insurgency has died its death in this Central Kashmir district as long back as in 1996. Parallel to Kupwara district, it ranked high in turnout of voters in all Assembly, Lok Sabha, Local Body and Panchayat elections in the last 14 years. High profile gunbattles, separatist demonstrations, and an incident of firing on the Muslims protesting desecration of holy Quran in USA, have proved to be aberrations and the masses in general have forgotten them like bad dreams.

So, it is not for nothing that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has chosen this Shia-dominated district headquarters as the first venue of his Durbar season public appearance on Tuesday. His schedules include inauguration of a power grid that has been already inaugurated four months back and has been functional since last year-end.

Notwithstanding the fact that the top icons of Kashmir's separatist movement---Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin and Chairman of the radical faction of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, included---have been residents of Budgam district, people in general here have been lukewarm to their political ideology and activism. Carved out of the capital district of Srinagar in 1979, Budgam has a slew of distinctions to its credit during the era of insurgency. It was the only district in Valley where counter-insurgent irregular militias were not allowed to raise their head post-1996.

Not that the separatist movement was weak. The most formidable guerrilla group, Hizbul Mujahideen, was floated here in a meeting of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders at Dooru-Sebdan in December 1989. It maintained its headquarters at Salahuddin's Soibug village for over a decade. Historic million-strong rally in favour of Azadi and against the Indian "occupation" came out from here in March 1990. First MLA, Mir Mustafa, and Vice Chancellor of Kashmir University, Prof Mushirul Haq, were kidnapped and gunned down in this district. After imposition of AFSPA with effect from July 5th, 1990, Valley's first village---Adina, Watamagam---was burnt down to ashes in the same district. Devastation of the holy shrine of Sheikh-ul-Aalam Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani, that proved to be the proverbial last nail in the militancy's coffin, happened here at Chrar-e-Sharief on May 11th, 1995. Massacre of Kashmiri Pandits took place here at Sangrampora village in March 1997.

However, the situation changed dramatically after devastation of Chrar-e-Sharief. Within years, Dr Farooq Abdullah's government reconstructed the shrine and rehabilitated over 1,000 families whose houses had been razed to rubble. Years later, Budgam got the distinction of creating the Valley's first rehabilitation settlement for the displaced KPs at Sheikhpora.

Since rapes and murders have not happened here for years, nobody seems interested in Omar Abdullah's and Mehbooba Mufti's rhetorical speeches on revocation of AFSPA. With nearly zero-presence of militants for over a decade now, nobody discusses NCTC in a passenger bus or a wayside restaurant. On the other hand, development, employment, better human resource and infrastructure at hospitals, safe drinking water, wider macadamized roads, electric supply of lesser interruption, safe power distribution system, more fertilizers, better education, preservation of ecology and a responsive administration invariably seem to be the dominating aspirations of masses irrespective of their political ideology.

Illegal brick kilns had sprouted like mushrooms during Farooq Abdullah's, Mufti Sayeed's and Ghulam Nabi Azad's regimes. However, it was only in Omar Abdullah's regime that Budgam achieved the dubious title of "Bathgam" (the village of brick kilns). Official statistics put the number at 100 but residents count 200 of such kilns that have been laid in brazen violation of all laws and rules, mostly on either side of major arteries. As many as 30 compoletely unauthorized and illegal kilns are operating today on either side of Budgam-Nasrullahpora-Beerwah Road. Thirty more exist on Budgam-Chadoura Road. Over 50 have been identified in Rakh Shalina belt.

While as over 1,000 tippers are estimated to be engaged with these brick kilns, over 2,000 more are believed to be working with nearly 100 JCBs. Most of these JCBs have denuded orchards, uprooted all kinds of protected trees and leveled lofty karewas. None of the Deputy Commissioners or Tesildars has asserted to regulate mushroom growth of brick kilns, tippers and JCBs in the last nearly 10 years. Hundreds of these clay-laden tippers do pass through the district headquarters daily, without any checking by the concerned authorities. This has led not only to high level of air pollution and emission of toxic gases but also to numerous road accidents at the district headquarters. Officers of various departments just taking bribes and facilitating the ecological vandalism has become an open secret in entire Budgam district.

Road connectivity is excellent in Chrar-e-Sharief and Khanmsahab constituencies but a sham in Budgam, Chadoura and Beerwah. Authorities have had no shame in choking development in Salahuddin's Soibug area which has medieval surface communication. Worse is the condition of Soibug-Narbal and Soibug-Beerwah roads. Drinking water is a luxury in over 60% of the villages. Despite then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's and incumbent Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's serious instructions, PWD has failed to take up laying a link road between Sebdan and Pirbagh, via Narkara Numbal.

Going by the progress on construction of a hospital at Rishipora, former Chief Minister Azad is right in his complaint that the foundation stones he had laid in 2007 are still intact. It was Azad's government that had decided to raise a major hospital at Rishipora, in periphery of Budgam town, in 2007. Residents of three villages donated 78 Kanals of land free of cost, Then Divisional Commissioner, Mehboob Iqbal, and then DC of Budgam, Farooq Reenzu, drove all the way to the site alongwith almost all District Officers five years back, took possession of the area and installed a board. Not a stone has been laid in the last five years.

With successive district administrations surrendering before undesirable elements, politicians and religious leaders of strong vested interest, Government has failed to implement its decision of shifting the old bus-stand to the newly acquired site for a bigger bus-stand at Budgam.

Quality Health Care for Masses

Javid has his finger on location woes for building new medical facilities, whereas the real issue is whether quality health care is possible for ordinary Kashmiris in a culture that has given us Lal Ded and GMC Hospitals

(Dr. Javid Iqbal, 65, was born in Srinagar. He attended the D.A.V. School, Srinagar, and graduated in Medicine from the Government Medical College (GMC). His professional service in medicine includes work in the Middle East for three decades. During his days at the GMC, he captained the cricket team. He enjoys writing and staying close to his children in far away lands.)

Apollo Healthcare in Kashmir

With the opening of well knit Apollo health care facility in Karan Nagar, an ideal location where uptown and downtown areas crisscross, India’s major corporate healthcare chain has announced its arrival in Kashmir. Such a facility was direly needed. Yet because of prevailing conditions major corporate health sector players could not display in the valley what they had to offer.

The indigenous growth of private health sector remains stifled. Master plan of Srinagar comes in the way of developing private sector health facilities. It has had the effect of dampening the entrepreneur zest of many medicos. Some of them had left lucrative practices abroad to invest their hard earned money in the state, all of no avail. There is no desire in official circles to revisit the master plan and bring it in tune with the need of modern times. The lackluster attitude of state authorities, needless hard attitudes, inability to come to grips with growing public need has had an upsetting effect on local talent.

The main obstacle remains developing private health facility in residential area. Many public sector health facilities are located in thickly populated areas. SMHS, JLNM, Lal Ded, GB Pant, to name a few. Even chest diseases hospital, where patients of tuberculosis are treated, is located in thickly populated area in Srinagar. Tuberculosis patients were usually treated in sanitariums in isolated areas of health resorts. Official agencies have hardly a healthy argument in denying willing investors, while sticking to an out-dated master plan. The mode of denial persists, even when the existence of health care facilities in residential areas of India’s metropolitan cities and in cities all over the world is pointed out.

The asymmetric residential colonies that have come up in the recent past lack facilities. The private health care facilities that have come-up in residential areas are few and far between. Some of these facilities face problems of official regularization. In such a dismal scenario, a facility like Apollo health care facility is welcome. A start has been made and Apollo like facilities are bound to multiply in sync with increasing demand for top quality health care located at a walking distance in residential areas, of course with contagious disease care excluded.

Corporate health sector has assumed global dimensions keeping up with widening health concerns in industrially advancing age. The age has thrown-up new challenges. Given the richer spread of the dinning table, paucity of time or disinclination for physical workout, the white collar workers are mostly getting into hyper-nutritive states, a state of health where more calories (unit of dietary intake) are consumed than our daily routine needs. This leads to dietary excess and amounts to health abuse. Excess calories could be shed by physical workout, a daily swift walk for a minimum of 40 minutes, which a routine majority feels disinclined to undertake.

Senior health analysts and the noted physicians—Prof (Dr) Allaqaband, Prof (Dr) Hamid Zargar, Prof (Dr) Showkat Zargar—Director SKIMS, Prof (Dr) M.S. Khuroo – have been virtually making it a point to talk of ‘Epidemic of Diabetes’ in every medical meet. Prof (Dr) Hamid Zargar is a diebetologist of repute. He minces no words in talking of frightening proportions that diabetes is assuming. Another disorder of wide concern taking scores of lives is ischemic heart disease. Ischemia is a state of impaired blood supply. And if it gets related to a vital organ like heart, the result could be fatal. Dietary excess—high protein, high fat diet and lack of physical workout could result in thickening of blood and formation of clots which impede the blood supply. Every organ needs a measure of blood which is need oriented depending on the workload of that organ. Impairment in the needed supply poses severe health problems.

Hyper-nutritive disorders get related to growing affluence and new challenges in health care. Prompt and early diagnosis could mean the difference between life and death. Apollo promises holistic healthcare, with facilities for carrying out diagnostic measures and day to day care facilities under one roof at reasonable prices. The promised care is in sync with brand name Apollo. The doyen of valley, a veteran physician Prof. (Dr) Allaqaband, who was the prime guest at the inaugural function held the Apollo facility on hold for a year before he would pass a verdict on the ability of the branded health care facility’s ability to deliver. Promise has to be converted to performance. The learned professor might have been alluding to difficulties of operating in a place where needless inferences and misjudged inferences could mar the most promising of promises.

The facilities that Apollo unfolds promise a lot. Maximum utilization of available space reveals an artistic touch. The architectural pattern, though holistic, has nevertheless addressed concerns of multiple units related to health care disciplines under one roof in a space of approximately 8500 sq. feet. The dimensions make it the second biggest Apollo clinic in the country. There is enough space for profiling the data needed by the clinician to form a definitive impression. Biochemical profiling, the imaging techniques, cardio-techniques are pros which render reliability to the facility. The cons are hardly detectable, even if a conscious effort is made to find one. Materially the facility has all that a clinician may desire and the patient may deserve, yet the hand that moves the machines has to remain deft and dexterous.

Apollo is definitely a name that catches attention. Its protagonists claim it to be a proposition that is difficult to match. The major corporate health player has enough to prove its veracity. It is indeed an integrated enterprise. With Apollo health care facilities spread all over the country of continental proportions, it has plans to get global. And it is spreading its chain of hospitals and clinics in neighboring countries. Figures testify the wide and effective reach. Twenty million people from 120 countries treated, 6.2 million preventive health checks performed, as well as 1.2 million open heart surgeries, 8000 kidney transplant, 890 liver transplants. The clinic pioneers a range of value added services such as second opinion from the panel of leading experts across Apollo Hospitals in India through telemedicine and counseling of various lifestyle parameters. Besides this, Apollo Clinic Srinagar offers facilities like comprehensive immunization services, corporate packages and infertility services in keeping with the finest practices worldwide.

Apollo Srinagar is designed to be a service provider for virtually all medical disciplines including cardiology, dermatology, gynecology and obstetrics, orthopedics, pediatrics urology, pulmonology, endocrinology, dentistry, psychiatry, physiotherapy and dentistry unit etc. The facility has signed a M.O.U with Spectra Laboratory division Apollo Hospitals enterprise limited for specialized investigations like molecular genetics, cytology and clinical pathology.

The facility is designed to save a trip to Delhi for worried vale dwellers with the unfounded belief that Srinagar may not offer the best to address health concerns.

The Suffering Agrarian Economy

Even a rudimentary analysis will show that Government policy enriches the rich by investing in tourism and big contracts and neglects the poor who live off the agrarian economy 

JK worst Performing Agriculture State


Srinagar: Apart from number 2 in corruption, Jammu and Kashmir has earned another distinction of being only state in the country which has miserably failed to increase net-sown area, cropped area as well as annual growth rate of crops despite having increased use of technology significantly since the year 1962.

J&K has been rated as the worst performing states in terms of increasing profitability from agriculture which is regarded as mainstay of an emerging economy. State has registered dismal 5 percent increase in irrigated areas when the use of technology has increased 10 times to what it was in 1962 when the first survey was conducted by the Planning Commission of India.


Besides, none of the 22 districts have been able to make it to the list of high crop yielding districts of Jammu and Kashmir. More importantly, cropping intensity has shown 22 percent increase (125 to 147) over the last 48 years while the cropped area has increased from 684, 000 hectares to 750, 000 hectares during the same period, thereby registering a meager increase of 66, 000 hectares when compared with rest of the states.

These spine-chilling revelations have been made by Planning Commission of India in its final report based on district level study on the growth of agriculture conducted by centre for study of regional development of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), a copy of which is with Kashmir Monitor newspaper. Study has been conducted on 44 crops being grown in various districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The two crops which have been left out are garlic and onion.

The report has pointed out that while the use of tractors grew from 2 per thousand hectares in 1962 to 70 in 2006, Pump sets from 0 in 1962 to 28 per thousand hectares in 2006, fertilizers from 2 kg per hectare to 119 kg per hectare; it has not been able to increase agricultural output on the analogy. Hinting out at the impending disaster, reports says that rapidly receding ground water in many areas across Jammu and Kashmir is leading to harmful salts getting accumulated on its surface.

Report has stated that overexploitation of land resources and excessive use of fertilizers and other agro-chemicals has resulted in serious deterioration in the quality of land with soils becoming deficient in many crucial nutrients and adversely affecting its productivity.

Nailing the lie of J&K agricultural ministry, report has revealed that agricultural workers productivity has not shown an appreciable change. It has added that the productivity has increased from Rs. 2018.07 per worker in 1962 to Rs. 3245.54 per worker after a span of 48 years. Post-reform period 1990-93 to 2003-06 is characterized by a serious retrogression both in the matter of levels and growth rates of yield and output and a slowdown in diversification towards oilseeds, says the report.

Regarding Jammu and Kashmir, report has maintained that decline in public investment in irrigation, water management and scientific research has adversely affected profitability of farmers. It has added that agricultural workers who constitute 58 percent of the total workforce are facing deceleration in their productivity and income levels as well as facing distress. Report has maintained that high and ever increasing population pressure on land in the backward districts is a major contributor to the ever widening disparities.

It has concluded that high productivity districts are characterised by low population pressure and the opposite holds true for low productivity districts. It has recommended that there is an urgent need for rejuvenation of agricultural growth and shift of agricultural work force to non-farm employment activities in the underdeveloped areas for raising levels of agricultural worker productivity and for reversing trend of widening gap in productivity of agricultural workers.

It has further laid stress on devising region specific policies alongside increasing public investment in irrigation and other rural infrastructure in particular in agricultural research and extension in all parts of Jammu and Kashmir. It has also called for investing heavily in agricultural and bio-technology research for developing cost reducing and water saving technology for wheat and particularly rice. (Kashmir Monitor)

Pahalgam in Shambles

The word will not take long to spread

Pahalgam in Shambles: Dilapidated Roads, Poor Sanitation, Messy Healthcare, Troubles Tourists

D S Ahmad (Kashmir Times)

Pahalgam: Despite being the world famous tourist destination, Pahalgam continues to face the official neglect in terms of infrastructure development causing severe inconvenience to all the locals, hoteliers and tourists visiting the spot. Roads, sanitation, health care and electricity everything remains in a messy state with locals and other people associated with the tourism industry crying hoarse for attention of the concerned authorities.

All the roads leading to the areas where the A-class hotels and sophisticated huts are situated are dotted with such a big potholes that the tourists prefer to stay in B-class hotels on the main road passing through Pahalgam town.

“Most of the A-class hotels and huts here are located in surroundings of the main town but the roads leading to these hotels are totally in a dilapidated condition which does not only cause severe agonies to the tourists but affects the business of the hoteliers and hut owners also,” said a hotelier Mohammad Imran. Laripora road, Circuit road, Aru road and other link roads resemble that of the roads of an undeveloped remote village.

“It was a bitter experience to choose the circuit road for entering the Pahalgam town. The road is in such a bad condition that I had to even face the abuses of the tourists I was carrying for choosing the road. The road besides being in worst condition is too narrow also that we had a narrow escape at many places,” said Manjit, a driver from Jammu.

The condition of the Laripora road, Golf Course Road and Aru Road where many famous A-class hotels are located is no better thus causing immense hardships to the tourists. “Seeing the condition of the roads leading to our hotels the tourists always narrate bitter stories after making it the hotel. They have to face lot of inconvenience as their vehicles also suffer damages while traveling on the roads dotted with potholes,” said a manager of the A-class hotel wishing anonymity.

The sanitation at the scenic resort is also out of gear with garbage, filth and horse shit could be seen lying scattered everywhere around. Health care too is in a messy state with only health centre remaining devoid of all the basic facilities causing inconvenience to the locals.

President of the Pahalgam hoteliers and owners association (PHOA), Javed Ahmad Burza, discredits the claims of the authorities about the infrastructure development at the tourist place.

“Everything including roads, sanitation, cleanliness and electricity remains out of order here. The claims of the authorities about the development in Pahalgam is nothing more than a big lie. There is no comprehensive plan with the authorities about the development of this world famous scenic spot,” Burza said. He said that even during the slight rains mud instead of water comes out of taps causing inconvenience to the guests. Burza added that their repeated pleas to the PDA authorities about the repair of roads in Pahalgam always fell on deaf ear. “We several times approached the PDA authorities for repair of at least the link roads but every time they promised us to repair those. But the promise was not kept," Burza said.

When contacted chief executive officer, PDA, Mir Altaf Ahmad, admitted the bad condition of the roads and said only the link roads fall in the jurisdiction of PDA. "The main road and the circuit road are the jurisdiction of R & B department while link roads fall in our jurisdiction which will be repaired soon," CEO said. He said once the work on the drainage system is completed they will undertake the repair work of link roads.

Dwindling Exotic Wildlife

The only one of the kind goats in Asia, found in Kashmir, is disappearing

Kashmir's Spiral-Horned Markhor Goat in Peril

Rajat Ghai, IANS


Srinagar : It is an animal that is as much an icon of Kashmir as the beautiful Dal Lake and its shikaras. The magnificent spiral-horned Markhor, the largest member of the goat family, has for centuries inhabited the high mountains of Kashmir. But human greed and interference have placed this graceful animal on the 'critically endangered' list with barely 350 members remaining.


Which is why the notification of the Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary near Shopian in South Kashmir by the Jammu and Kashmir government April 27 has come as a big boost to conservationists fighting for the very survival of the Markhor.


Tatakuti is the latest addition to the wildlife sanctuaries and national parks already declared to conserve the Pir Panjal or Kashmir Markhor (Capra Falconeri Cashmiriensis). Others parks are Hirpora (Shopian), Limber and Lachipora (Baramulla). There is also the Kajinag National Park (Baramulla).


The Pir Panjal Markhor is one of five distinct species found in Asia. It is found only in India's Jammu and Kashmir. "They were once distributed from Banihal, through the Pir Panjal range, crossing the Jhelum river over to the Kajinag and Shamsabari ranges, into Gurez and then into Pakistan-administered Kashmir. But the present Markhor population is very small and unconnected," Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Senior Scientist for the Mysore-based Nature Conservation Foundation, told IANS.


Most experts maintain that barely 350 of this species remain. "As an informed guess, I will put the population at 300-400, with close to 250 being in Kajinag itself," says Bhatnagar.


Though the Markhor is included in the Indian (Schedule 1) and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Acts, the threat against its survival remain very much in place. Insurgency, cross-border firing, competition with livestock for grazing ground, poaching for its antlers as trophy and for its meat, fragmentation of habitat due to LoC fencing, lack of awareness and developmental projects, all threaten the Markhor.


Given the multi-fold threats facing the Markhor, is it enough to just declare another sanctuary?


"No. Declaring a protected area is just the starting point and not the end of the crusade of conservation. A sanctuary or a national park does give you the necessary legal teeth to fight the odds, but implementation of the laws and execution of strategies on ground is what matters most," Intesar Suhail, Wildlife Warden, Shopian Wildlife Division, told IANS.


Perhaps the greatest threat facing the species is competition from herders. In late May-early June, migratory (Bakkarwals) and local herders arrive with their livestock in the protected areas meant for the Markhor. They occupy the grazing grounds and force the Makhor to graze in other, mostly sub-optimal areas. 

Speaking for the herders, Mian Altaf Ahmad, state Forest Minister, told IANS: "These people have been doing this for decades. It is the only economic activity they pursue. They have their rights. You cannot deny them those." How can a balance be then found? "The best way to address the issue is to have a rehabilitation plan for the herders which should include providing alternative grazing areas and if possible, alternative means of livelihood," says Suhail.


"Critical areas like fawning grounds should be spared at least for some time during the fawning season. Similarly, critical habitats like those used in early spring should not be disturbed during that season," Riyaz Ahmed Peerzada, Manager, Mountain Ungulates Project, Jammu and Kashmir, told IANS.


Another threat is that the Markhor's habitat borders the volatile Line of Control. Can wildlife conservation override national security? "LoC fencing is thought to have affected the Markhor movement in Limber and Lachhipora. National security is indeed paramount but the interests of wildlife and biodiversity need to be safeguarded simultaneously," feels Suhail. Then there is the Mughal Road project, which is being built to connect Srinagar and Rajouri. It would slice through Hirpora, endangering the 50 individuals that reside there. "The permission to construct the Mughal Road was granted by the Supreme Court only after putting some conditions like extension of the sanctuary area and fencing of vulnerable areas which have been accomplished. Further measures like traffic regulation, closure of road during nights and compensatory afforestation of eroded road-sides shall be taken up once construction work concludes," promises Suhail. 

What else can be done to manage Markhor population? "Strengthen infrastructure and increase manpower, control grazing, release sites like fawning grounds and spring habitats from grazing, spread awareness, involve locals and punish poachers," advocates Peerzada.

Losing the Touch

Declining arts and crafts industries impacts cultural identity as well

Diminishing Arts and Crafts of Kashmir

Dr. Farooq Ahmad Peer

The arts and crafts of Kashmir reflect the emotional life of Kashmiris. During my childhood, I had a chance of seeing some of the most fantastic works by some major personalities of arts and crafts culture. The hard work put into their craft oozed out from the material they made. Their material was fine and looked well-tuned. The art and craft, be it Papier-Mâché, Wood Carving, Carpet, Shawl, Pottery, Embroidery and Iron-Warring, all looked delightful and appealing to the eye. Never in my life, had I come across something with regard to art and craft that demanded respect I had for these artists. I always felt that the toil and drudgery put into the making of a material would remain the same, but my perception was changed a few days back. 

Just, I had a chance of meeting some of the new artists from Kashmir who had recently honoured their skills in this field. The artists who introduced themselves as new comers looked all set to try their luck in this field. I asked them to show me some of their fine works. They put forward before me a bundle of Papier-Mache balls, Carpet samples, embroidery pieces, Iron-Warring, delicate pieces of Pottery, Wood carving and Shawl making. I picked up the pieces one by one, trying to see them as minutely as I could and trying to observe every bit of the information I could gather from them. I could sense that the way of making art had changed. The finishing touches in the earlier crafts which were clearly visible to the eye had gone. Even the thinking had changed. The old art and craft legends had done their craft for the passion that they shared for this job. But I could not perceive this passion from the works that the present group of artists are doing in our valley which was gorgeous in this culture two decades before. The contemporary artists of the valley have elapsed what the word passion means and have supplanted this with the desire of earning money. I ruminated about this and the riposte I received from my mind was the art for which Kashmir had has proud is devalued, diminishing and declining and its ashes are surviving and waiting to be cremated for the sake of money. Paradoxically, the show casers indicated that their families or ancestors have been doing this sensitive job since decades/ a century.


Days later, I visited the Museum of the School of Designing of the Handicrafts Department to carve out the real datum’s and see for myself whether the present group of artists I had seen were just an exception or had the whole group of artists taken to this route? As I entered the School of Designing showcase room, I clearly sensed a difference between the present and past works. The older works manifested, as it were the allegorical language of the passions and the virtues of the people of Kashmir. Some of the works and the marvelous examples of craft told the story of the famous personages; others depicted historical episodes, poetic fantasies or religious and philosophical themes. All these emanated from the mind of the designer or the crafts man whose free-hand drawing was astonishingly accurate. He was inspired by Nature, which was his instructor. Since art in human civilization is social expression, the artist or the craftsman did not merely emit his individual mood or quirk, but he explicated with loving artistic meticulousness, in the very universal language of art what he felt worthy of replica in his milieu and to this went a wealth of upkeep and imagination. Though patronised by the ruler or government and encouraged by the nobility of the time, the true artist worked under the pressure of his own creative urge which our present artists have left somewhere far behind.

We all must think seriously about our past graceful culture which would lure the tourists of the world to our Valley. (Greater Kashmir)

No Higher Cause

Saima introduces us to one of the brightest "stars of hope" for mentally and physically challenged children in Kashmir - the Chotay Taray Foundation (CTF)

(Ms. Saima Qayoom, 24, was born in Srinagar. She passed her 10+2 grade from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (CBSE). She completed her Diploma in Rehabilitation Therapy under the Ministry of Social Justice And Empowerment in 2008 and then completed the Bachelor’s in Arts from Women’s Degree College M.A. Road Srinagar in 2011 In the same year she was appointed as an Special Educator in a Special School cum Rehabilitation centre namely Chotay Taray Foundation and completed B.ED From Kashmir University through Distance mode. Presently she is pursuing post graduate degree in Psychology from Indra Gandhi National Open University. Still she is involved in the Rehabilitation of the special children and was promoted as Administrative Officer from Senior Special Educator.)

Mental Retardation in Kashmir

 hen a petal of the rose falls down, we still call it a rose. Though many leaves fall from the tree, we still go to the tree and enjoy its shade. When this is the case, why should we isolate a human being when he loses a faculty of his body or is challenged congenitally. The society should learn a lesson from the nature and try to understand that a person with disability is a human being too. The famous Helen Keller states that the most unfortunate person in the society is one who has sight but no vision. For understanding the abilities of the persons with disabilities one should have a broad vision of humanistic values.

Disability is a universal cause. However, if we focus on the persons with disability in the state of Jammu & Kashmir we will understand it is one of the most neglected groups due to lack of facilities and Rehabilitation programs for them, and from last 20 years the ratio of Disability is at the alarming rate because of the undue circumstances in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In this regard Chotay Taray Foundation (CTF) is an organization working for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. We are working since 5th May 2003 and in November, 2006 our organization was registered under the Societies Registration Act, VI of 1998. It aims for the Rehabilitation of children with Multiple Disabilities including those having Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, and Autism etc. These children are provided with special education, health facilities and vocational training as per their requirements. Currently CTF is catering to the needs of 60 children belonging to various communities. In addition to this we also work on 9 field areas in which 8 areas are in district Srinagar and 1 area is in district Budgam, where we work for overall development of children both differently able and normal children.

Our Vision:

We want to assist and develop differently able children in such a way that the roots of their dependency are uprooted so that they can live like other normal children independent of others. We also want to make people realize that such children are not an encumbrance on the society instead they can contribute equally towards the society. We also want to see our society develop in such a way that they perceive no discrimination between two children on the basis of their mental and physical attributes. We want that these children should be loved and respected in the society.

We strive for the:

• Right to development
• Right to education
• Right to participation
• Right to protection

We not only Rehabilitate the Special Children but also strive to prevent the Disabilities at very early stages by orienting the pregnant mothers, nursing mothers and the ICDS workers that how they can identify the signs of Disability at very beginning so, that their Rehabilitation may commence at that very stage which will prevent further deterioration. In addition, parent workshops, parent-Teacher meetings community meetings are held once in every month for involving the parents in the Rehabilitation regime of their wards. Teacher Training Programmes are conducted in association with Sarva Sikhsha Abhivan for training the Teachers of Government and Private schools, how to deal with the special children if enrolled within the school. Consultation meetings are held with different Stake holders in order to address the issue of Disability at the higher levels because Disability is the only issue that is being denied in the state and this very section is being considered as the weaker section of our society.

The rate of Disability is terrifyingly increasing day by day and no such steps are being taken to curb this burning issue. No doubt, Chotay Taray is delivering its services to the needful but to the limited areas because of the limited funds and resources as it is an organization which runs on the local donations, Sadqa Zakat what about other/far flung areas where Chotay Taray cannot reach out. So, let’s join hands to curb this menace by making the people aware about the different issues of Disability as the only thing that the people suffers from is “The lack of Awareness”.

Email: Ctf.inst@gmail.com
Website: www.chotaytaray.org

The Nag and the Cave

Iqbal brings us close to Kashmir's historical gems

(Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, 51, was born in Parigam Chek, Kulgam. He is a graduate with Diploma in Numastics, Archaeology and Heritage. He is an archaeologist, writer, and a cultural historian. Mr. Iqbal Ahmad has published 12 reference books on Kashmir archaeology and heritage.)

Verinag- the Love of Jahangir

Jahangir, the famous Mughal emperor, who expired at Chingas near Rajouri on his return from Srinagar to Lahore, wished, while on death bed, to be carried to Verinag and buried there. This was the charm of Verinag of which its royal founder seems to have been quite sensible; Verinag with its shady trees, cold-water and murmuring streams over shadowed by the somber pine-clad hills is situated in South Kashmir about 74 Km from Srinagar.

It is considered to be the real source of river Jehlum. Abul Fazl, in ‘Ain-e-Akbari’ says of Verinag, “A pool measuring of a Jarib, which tosses in foam with an astonishing roar and its depth unfathomable and is surrounded by a stone-embankment”.

The construction work over the spring was taken under by Jahangir (AH 1014-1073- AH, and completed by Shah Jahan (1037-1068 AH). The developmental work over Verinag included the laying of garden, raising pillared pavilions constructing royal bath rooms and an octagonal arcade around the spring.

Jahangir (1014-1037 AH), while providing a brief account of the spring writes, “It is an octagonal reservoir about 20-yards. Near it are the remains of a place of worship for recluses; cells cut out of the rock and numerous caves. The water is exceedingly pure, although I could not guess its depth. A grain of poppy-seed is visible until it touches the bottom. There are many fish to be seen in it. As I had heard that it was unfathomable, I ordered them to throw a cord with a stone attached and when this card measured in gaz it became evident that the depth was not more than one and a half the height of a man. After my accession I ordered them to build the sides of the spring with stone, and they made a garden round it with canal and built halls and houses about it and made a place such that travellers the world over can point out a few like it”

Of the buildings, that Jehangir ordered to be constructed here, only the range of twenty-four arches round the spring remains partially intact. The rest are either in ruins or completely invisible. The arcade originally formed of stone was repaired by Maharaja Rambir Singh (1857-85 AD) in bricks.

The two inscriptions raised into the wall of arcade one by Jahangir and the other by his son Shah Jahan retain the physical memories of these two monarchs one of the inscriptions that belongs to Jahangir-runs as;
Padshahi haft-Kishtiwar `adalat-gustar’Abu-al-Muzaffar
Nurud-ud-Din Jahangir Ibn Akbar Shah Ghazi Batarikhi
Sanah 5 Julus darin Sarchashma faiz-amin nazul ajlal formudand Tarikh.
Az Jahangir Shah-e-Akbar Shah.
Inn bina Sar Kashidah bar aflak
Abani-e-equal yaft tarikhash
Qasr abad-o-chashma-e-Verinag
This inscription carries the foundation date as 5th regional year of Jahangir with Kings higher titles in Persian.

The other inscription of Shah Jahan’s period read as:

Haider ba Aukmi Shahi
Jahan padasi dahr.
Shukre Khuda Ki Sakht
Chunin ab shar Jui.
In Jui dada ast Ziju-e-bahish yad.
Zin abshar yafta kashmir abrui.
Tarikh-e-jui guft ba gosham.
Az chashma-e-bikhif birum amadast Jui.
This inscription provides the date of the completion of the work as 1036 AH by one Haider, on orders of Shah Jahan.

Although Verinag, alongwith other tourist sites of south Kashmir, is receiving some tourists, though lately, a lot remains to be done yet. Steps are needed to be taken to showcase and also boast the tourist potential of this site besides preserving its arcade and inscription as these are the past glories of this historic spring. Like many other such historical sites, Verinag also suffered human vandalism and utmost neglect.

Kashmir Caves

Kashmir valley carries evidences of few such caves, the identity of many of which remains a great mystery even hundreds of years after they were first discovered. Who built these caves and for what purpose? These and many more questions remain unanswered to this day and are likely to remain a mystery for times to come in the absence of a thorough and empirical research. Although the land has a very ancient tradition of cave digging as, earlier people used to dig out the underground caves to live in and provide shelter for the people of the community. In was during this time that people probably found many natural caves as well and settled in them.

In early sixties and seventies underground cave pits were discovered on the plateaus of Burzhama (Srinagar) and Gufkral (Tral). In recent past few caves were identified in Manasbal locality as well. These discoveries stand well interpreted and their meaning well understood. Archaeologists tell us that such caves served as manmade and natural shelters for the earlier habitants of this land who preferred to live in the caves instead of building structures on the surface of the earth.

There are other caves attributed to various Hindu deities. Few of these caves are still being worshipped by Hindus while some other caves are believed to have served as meditation sites for various saints of the land. The caves attributed to Hindu deities include the world famous Amarnath Cave, which houses the Siva Linga. Hindu pilgrims from far off lands of India visit the cave during the Amarnath Yatra and pay obeisance at this site.

One another cave which really is an archaeological wonder and houses internally five feet high temple is seen at village Bumzu about 65 kms from Srinagar on a plateau on the left bank of river Lidder. It has been carved inside the massive limestone rock. Who carved it and for what purpose is not exactly known while legends have numerous stories to tell us. It is locally known as Gufa Mander. Cunningham (Archaeologist) describes it as a very old construction while other archaeologists are attributing it to medieval period and say that the cave was either carved out during the tenure of Bhimshahi or Queen Didda. It is the only site where we find that a temple was built inside the cave which, many archeologists believe, is very much significant as well impressive one. Visitors have to climb a flight of 22 steps from the road to reach to the gate of the cave.

There are other two famous caves with one at Gufabal (Kulgam) and other at Ashmuqam. These are attributed with celebrated saints of the land, Sheikh Noor-ud-Din (RA) and his disciple Sheikh Zain-ud-Din Rishi (RA) respectively. The Peer used to meditate in the cave at Gufabal and his disciple made Ashmuqam cave as his last abode. These caves are still extent and visited by devotees of the saints.

Apart from these known and well identified caves there are several caves found in Kashmir. The proper identity of which still remains a mystery. One such group of caves is seen in Kupwara in frontier district of the land at Lasthiyal, Kalaroos. These are not natural caves some people have carved them in a proper sequence from the massive lime stone rocks. These are in a row and uniform in size. No scientific study of these caves has yet been under-taken while few scholars who tried to identify them could not come up with concrete picture of these caves.

However the famous historian of Kashmir, Dr. Fida Muhammad Hasnian, has something to say about the caves. He says that these caves served as the indicators of some major historical events, which might have taken place in this area during ancient periods. He emphasizes for a major archaeological survey of the area.

Recently, one more prehistoric cave, used by some ancient settlers, was found in village Hefseermal on the right bank of Nallah Rembara in Pulwama District. This cave has been dug out from a side of low plateau.

All these caves found at various places have been left uncared and unpreserved and are in utter ruins. Infect, these caves have to face human vandalism while the concerned department seems snoring over the issue. Steps are required to be taken to preserve the cave heritage and to explore it for heritage tourism as well.

Thanks to Archaeological Survey of India authorities who have been maintaining the Bumzo cave and have been successful not only in its restoration work but also in bringing on the tourist map of the land.