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31-Member Parliamentary Delegation to visit valley tomorrow

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Panel to review functioning of Tourism; Delegation to meet NHAI on ‘Role of Highways in Nation Building’

Jahangir Sofi

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Srinagar, Jan 19: A Parliamentary delegation comprising 31 delegates will arrive in Kashmir tomorrow (Wednesday) to review the Tourism, Culture, road and transport sectors in the valley.

Special Secretary to the Government and Secretary Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez while speaking to news agency-KNO confirmed the visit of the Parliamentary Delegation and said the guests will meet the officials from Tourism department and other stakeholders associated with the department.

The Parliamentary Panel is scheduled to meet with stakeholders on leading aspects of Road sector, Tourism, Travel and Hospitality sector, in addition to a meeting with officials of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and J&K UT Government on ‘Role of highways in nation building.’

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Divisional Commissioner Kashmir P K Pole while speaking to KNO said: “The 31 member Parliamentary delegation will be visiting Kashmir valley tomorrow, the delegation will review the Road, Air, and Railway connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir.”

The committee was also look into the Tourism and Cultural promotions in the valley, pertinent to mention that Srinagar Jammu National highway is a vital surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country which frequently gets closed in winters due to heavy snowfall, landslides and shooting stones, which also results in delay of essential supplies and other commodities to the valley.

All the successive governments’ so far have failed to find alternatives to the crises that result from the closure of the Srinagar Jammu National Highway in the 70-plus history of Kashmir.

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To curb the road connectivity crises Government of India approved implementation of projects for four-laning of the mountainous Srinagar Jammu National Highway.

The road widening project has failed to complete despite missing several deadlines.

Earlier, National Highway Authorities also confirmed to KNO that work on four- laning of Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was stopped at many places and excavation work was also halted in the areas which proved vulnerable. They further said they are exploring the options of Tunnels and Wide-ups on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

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High-valued narcotics worth Rs 100 crore seized in Ramban, two arrested: Police

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Police on Sunday said they seized high-valued narcotics worth Rs 100 crore in Banihal area of Ramban district and arrested two persons in this regard.

Also Read: 17 residential sheds gutted in Parimpora blaze

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A police official told that Ramban police intercepted an Innova vehicle at the railway chowk in Banihal, apprehending two individuals associated with large-scale narcotics.

The vehicle, travelling from Kashmir towards Jammu, was found to be concealing a substantial quantity of high-valued narcotics, he said.

During a thorough search, the police made a startling discovery, saying they recovered approximately 30 kilograms of a heroin-like substance from hidden compartments within the vehicle.

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The international market value of the seized drugs is estimated to be around Rs 100 crores, according to the official.

The arrested persons are currently in police custody, and further investigations are underway to ascertain the source and destination of this illicit substance, the official said.

He added that authorities are also actively pursuing leads to identify potential links to larger drug trafficking networks. KNO

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17 residential sheds gutted in Parimpora blaze

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At least seventeen residential tin sheds were gutted in a devastating fire incident on Jhelum banks in Parimpora area of Srinagar on Sunday.

Also Read: Seminar on financial literacy held at NIT Srinagar

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Reports reaching Asian News Hub (ANH) said that a fire broke out from a residential shed at around 04:30 am on Sunday morning which spread to other residential sheds within no time.

They said, fire tenders reached the spot on time however, upon their arrival nearly 17 sheds had suffered damages and the fire was brought into control within no time.

Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance of the incident and the cause of fire was not known immediately.

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As smart meters shine, darkness persists: People seek answers to ongoing electricity woes

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Despite the augmentation of power infrastructure and the installation of much-hyped smart meters, the electricity woes continue to torment the valley residents ahead of the winter as since past one week, consumers are facing pesky power cuts across the Valley.

The situation is equivalent in towns, cities and villages as the consumers have accused the concerned Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) of supplying inadequate electricity to them.

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“Despite the installation of smart meters, which were aimed to ensure better power supply, we are getting nearly 4-5 hours of electricity supply on a regular basis, which has added to the misery of consumers here,” said Jahangir Ahmad, a local from the Natipora area.

“Crores of rupees have been spent on the power infrastructure augmentations in the last couple of years, which were giving a hope of round-the-clock electricity to the people, but all in vein as seemingly the winter power schedule has been started in the valley during the Autumn season, thus pushing the people to the wall,” the residents said.

Such unscheduled power cuts are being witnessed everywhere nowadays as the complaints are being received from several other areas also.

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Also Read: Man dies in Anantnag as tractor skids off road

The consumers said that the electricity is being snatched for hours together and is being supplied for only a few hours in a day.

“The electricity supply was snatched multiple times today, which began from 6am to 8:30 am in the morning, 1 am to 2:30 pm in the afternoon and then 6pm to 8:30 pm in the evening,” one of the residents from Pampore said.

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The frequent electricity cuts have irked the people, who demand authorities to take immediate steps to ensure adequate power supply to them.

Pertinently, Kashmir’s power generation has got badly affected as according to the KPDCL Chief Engineer, Javed Yousuf Dar, the reduction in water level in river Jhelum, Chenab has lessened the power generation at the power houses of Kashmir.

“We are presently looking for an option to get the additional electricity to ensure adequate power supply to the people. We are on it and hopefully, the issue will be resolved in next few days,” Chief Engineer, KPDCL had said. KNO

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