Muslims offer prayers
MANDI, July 10 — Members of Muslim community today held prayer meetings in two mosques of the town for the martyrs who laid down their lives in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed condolence with their families.

Six killed as bus falls into gorge
From Our Correspondent

SUNDERNAGAR, July 10 — Six persons were killed and 12 others injured when a HRTC bus fell into a gorge near Nal village 15 km from here, today. The bus was going from Sundernagar to Chai Ka Dohra.

According to official sources all six died on the spot. Two of the injured are stated to be in a serious condition.

According to eye-witnesses, some passengers along with the driver and conductor got down to clear road of stones. The road was steep and bus started coming downhill. The driver tried to get into it but couldn't and the bus fell into the gorge.

The deceased have been identified as Guddi Devi, Dharmin Devi residents of Dodwan village, Tiblu Ram of Churad Dhar, Hari Ram of Dhar Bhawali, Nikki Devi of Lahakha and Shakuntla of Dhar village. All deceased are from the Sundernagar subdivision.

The Tehsildar, Sundernagar, along with a team of medical staff visited the spot and supervised rescue operations. An ex gratia of Rs 5000 has been announced for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 1000 for the injured.

Mr Dile Ram, a former minister, and Mr Sher Singh, President, District Congress Committee, visited the spot. Mr Ganga Singh, a former President of the state unit of the BJP met the injured at the hospital.

The police has registered a case under Sections 279, 337, 338, 304A of the IPC against the driver of bus.

Gen Dayal favours crossing of LoC
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, July 10 — Lt-Gen R.S. Dayal, a former Lieutenant-Governor of Andaman and Nicobar islands, has cautioned the government against the non-committal attitude of the Pakistan on the withdrawal of intruders from Kargil and asserted that it should exercise the military option fully by crossing the Line of Control.

He said the Line of Control was no more sacrosanct as the Pakistan had already violated it. The country should not only drive the intruders beyond it but also push them deep down to a disadvantageous position from where they could not undertake such misadventure again. The objective should be to acquire a position from where "we could kill" the enemy.

General Dayal was speaking as the chief guest at the concluding function of the year-long golden jubilee celebrations of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad here yesterday.

He said India's weak foreign policy option over the years, because of which it lost what the Army won for the country in the battlefield making great sacrifices on the negotiation table on three occasions, was responsible for the present crisis. Strategic positions won in the 1965 war in the Kargil and Poonch sectors were returned, a unilateral ceasefire was called in 1947-48 and 90,000 prisoners of war and the huge territory captured by troops were returned in 1971 without resolving the Kashmir issue.

The country also needlessly delayed a decision on exercising the nuclear option. He said the Vajpayee government did the right thing by proclaiming India a nuclear weapon state. The country should not succumb to nuclear blackmail of Pakistan as it could not dare use it.

The present government, though a caretaker one, was doing a fine job and it could not be held responsible alone for the Kargil crisis. The problem had been building up for the past 50 years due to wrong and weak policies of successive governments, which must apportion the blame for it. At this critical juncture the country should stand united and political parties should back the government in its efforts to flush out the intruders. It was perhaps political instability within the country and the bickering among parties which encouraged Pakistan to intrude into Indian territory.

General Dayal, who commanded the Indian forces in the Kargil during 1971 war, lamented that the defence sector had continuously been neglected due to the indifferent attitude of the political bosses and bureaucracy. Important proposal concerning modernisation were scuttled by bureaucrats and the politicians hardly had any idea about the defence budget.

While appreciating the overwhelming manner in which the public had come out in support of the armed forces during the current crisis General Dayal expressed the apprehension that the funds being collected for the welfare of jawans might be diverted for other purposes by some fund-starved states.

He suggested that people should instead contribute for a "war preparedness fund" so that money donated by them was utilised for the modernisation of the armed forces which required Rs 25,000 crore for the purpose.

Scope for adventure tourism
From Bijender Sharma

JAWALAMUKHI:- Nestled in the lap of the snow-clad Dhauladhar ranges, the Kangra valley beckons tourists with the bounty nature has bestowed on it — a mini-Tibet, antique miniature paintings, ancient temples and sprawling green tea gardens scattered all over. The mini — Tibet of McLeodgunj attracts both Indian and foreign visitors keen on getting a glimpse of the life-style of the Tibetans and wanting to seek the blessings of the Dalai Lama, revered as the "Living Buddha".

All important towns in the valley, including Dharamsala, Palampur, Kangra, McLeodganj and Jawalamukhi, have reasonable accommodation and most of the hotels there have STD facility. The guest houses in the residential areas are few and for between. There is, however, no special arrangement for medical aid for the tourists. They like the local residents, have to depend on the local hospitals and whatever these are equipped with. Dharamsala, McLeodganj, Palampur, Kangra and Jawalamukhi lack parking facilities. The traffic just goes haywire during the summer with vehicles parked at will.

A survey of the important towns dotting the tourist map of the valley reveals that not much is being done or arranged by the Tourism Department to make the stay of the tourists comfortable and memorable. Bad roads, unhygienic conditions, erratic water supply, exorbitant rents in private guest houses non-availability of standard food items and the level at which these are priced, put the tourists off.

This coupled with inadequte publicity of the natural and traditional assets of the valley, makes a large number of tourists pack up earlier than scheduled. Non-availability of guides, lack of adequate transport facilities and conducted tours with the Kangra valley are the other factors dampening the enthusiasm of the visitors.

McLeodganj attracts most foreign tourists all through the year but precious little has been done to tap its tourism potential.

Hotels, especially the small ones, are ill — maintained and unhygienic; the food is costly and below standard and the transport costly. "The taxi owners loot us because we are not aware of the local conditions", says an American traveller, Chris, adding that even the tourist information centre does not help the foreigners. The religious Dal Lake, located at a height in McLeodganj, has lost the pious touch due to the disposal of refuse and filth into it by the institutions around keen residents of Dharamsala have been undertaking cleaning up operations but the plight of the lake is yet to catch the attention of the Tourism Department.

The plan of setting a ropeway of between the beautiful sites at Dharmkot and Trinyund and the key towns in the valley to promote tourism is hanging fire. The area has a good scope for adventure tourism. Places like Jawalamukhi, Kangra, Chintpurni which have popular temples fail to sustain the interest for visitors due to the lack of proper accommodation.

Another important factor coming in the way of promoting tourism in the valley is the non-functional Gaggal airport which is otherwise equipped to operate ten flight." My friends from Britain, Bombay and Madras Planned to see the beauty of the Kangra Valley but have cancelled the programme this year also as they do not want to waste time travelling in buses or trains" says a medical officer.

Most foreign tourist keen on visiting the Dalai Lama's enclave at McLeodganj also develop cold feet in the absence of flights from Delhi.

Enteritis cases near Nalagarh
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, July 10 — The outbreak of gastro-enteritis in a jhuggi colony situated in the Haryana area along Saraj Majra of Nalagarh sub-division of this district has focussed attention of the plight of poor migrant labourers, mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, working in sand and stone quarries there.

As many as 39 cases of gastro-enteritis had so far been reported at the ESI Hospital, Baddi, last week. Three of these proved to be fatal while other had been treated either in the outpatient departments of the Civil Hospital, Nalagarh, or were admitted as indoor patients.

Nearly 600 persons reportedly live in 63 jhuggis in the affected area. While the jhuggis were bereft of any civic amenities, the residents were forced to use water from rain water pools for their drinking needs. Some of these pools were infested with tiny insects that could be seen crawling along the pools or moving in their stagnating waters.

All the affected persons were rushed to Himachal health centres. A team of doctors, led by the Chief Medical Officer, Solan, Dr L.B. Purohit, who rushed to Saraj Majra after receiving reports of gastro-enteritis deaths found that only four out of a total of 67 jhuggis fell in the Himachal area. However, ignoring considerations of state boundary, the team of Himachali doctors treated the needy and also provided medicines to them free of cost.

In view of the alarming situation, Dr Purohit has informed the Chief Medical Officer, Panchkula, about the outbreak of the gastro-enteritis.

Muslims offer prayers
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, July 10 — Members of Muslim community today held prayer meetings in two mosques of the town for the martyrs who laid down their lives in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed condolence with their families.

Muslim Welfare Committee president Naseem said Muslims condemned Pakistan for sending intruders into the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir and added that "Muslims of Himachal are solidly behind the government in the war against the intruders of Pakistan".

A two-minute silence was observed by Muslims in the two mosques for the martyrs who died fighting infiltrators.