Majestic crumbled structures yet to be reconstructed

KT NEWS SERVICE SRINAGAR, June 18: The magestic structures that once added to the glory in the heart of the city at Lal Chowk and its adjoining areas are now a scar on this commercial hub.

Reduced to ashes in various incidents, the authorities appear not interested in re-constructing them.

"Once we land in the city, our first impression is that we are in a ghost town", said Meenakshi Sarkar, a tourist from Delhi.

The city remains dotted with these crumbled structures.

Adjoining the famous Ghanta Ghar (Clock Tower), are the ruins of Palladium cinema, Gujarat hotel, Budshah hotel and Dharamshalla.

These splendid structures had crumbled more than a decade back and Budshah hotel in fact was consumed by fire before militancy.

The mayhem that accompanied the destruction of adjoining structures of Palladium left a number of persons dead.

"When the city woke up that day they found no bunkers around.

This emboldened them and they set some structures on fire because they thought they would be occupied by forces.

But, subsequently forces opened fire killing several persons there", said a resident.

Several recent incidents have added to collapsed structures to the list.

A sprawling building on the Residency road housing state Information department and Press Information Bureau office was set ablaze by security forces in an exchange of fire with militants on the intervening night of March 9 and 10, this year.

Prior to the incident, Greenway hotel near the exchange road was brought down by security forces in August last year after two militants were trapped inside.

Militants earlier attacked the counter insurgent turned politician Javed Shah but were subsequently cordoned by forces triggering an encounter.

Within hours, the building was in flames and almost a year after the hotel continues to be in shambles.

What now remains of all these structures are the shops, in their ground floor, which were constructed by the owners over the years.

"We lost property worth crores but despite getting no assistance from the government we were prompt to start them afresh.

The government, on its part, is dithering", said Manzoor Ahmad, a shopkeeper.

These buildings are either owned by the government or some businessmen.

"The scale of damage was so extensive that private parties were not in a position to re-build them.

But why have successive government's failed to address the question of reconstruction", said Muneeb Ahmad, a salesman at a shop in the Budshah hotel complex.

Other factors also contributed to the city's ruin.

The roads are worn out and other structures present a gory sight.

Like the Lalla Rukh hotel has not been renovated for years together.

"Or take the condition of road that leads to Kothi Bagh Higher Secondary School.

There are big craters on it", said Mohammad Aslam, who runs his shop on the Red Cross Road.

The destruction in the city's heart scares away the tourists.

"If this is the condition of the capital of the state how can officials claim things are normal here.

It appears we are in the centre of a warn torn area", regrets Meenakshi.

Cong ministers for extending Amarnath pilgrimage KT NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI: The issue of Amarnath yatra refused to die down.

Taking the stand, contrary to their government in Srinagar, a three-member ministerial delegation led by Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma asked the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to extend the duration of Amarnath yatra beyond one month period.

Earlier citing the security reasons, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had reversed the decision taken by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board headed by Governor S K Sinha and curtailed yatra to one month period from two months besides continuance of registeration as well as registeration fee of Rs 20, which the board had scrapped and made yatra free for all.

Deputy Chief Minister here on Friday alongwith his two colleagues called on Patil at his North Block office and demanded that yatra be extended after extensive consultations with security forces and the state government.

They told Home Minister that certain vested interests would exploit the situation to raise communal flames.

The delegation said that they were not insisting that yatra be extended for two months, but it should be stretched beyond one month to a reasonable time.

They also asked the Centre to intervene and allow the Governor S.

Sinha to implement a Rs.

11 crore package to augment facilities for the pilgrims.

They said the package was in keeping with the report of Nitish Sengupta committee's recommendations that had looked into providing facilities to pilgrims.

They also complained that four trucks carrying pre-fabricated material had been stopped for four days by the state authorities.

The delegation also raised the issue of jobs to unemployed youth in the state and demanded greater representation of state youth in central services.

300 crore package, to address the unemployment, the ministerial delegation asked the Centre to lift moratorium on fresh employments.

Also raising the issue of border migrants, who had left their hearth due to mining of the border during Operation Parakaram, the delegation apprised the Home Minister that preveious government had approved Rs.

78 crore for their welfare, but this has not been released so far.

They also demanded that border residents be given a five marla plot each at safer places.

Deputy Chief Minister also apprised the Home Minister the condition of Sate Road Transport Corporation (SRTC).

They said the militants had burnt 100 buses during past 10 years and demanded a Rs.

100 crore package for its revival and modernization.