The Kashmir Pulse

PULWAMA — The residents of Pulwama district have demanded immediate repair of the vital Tahab bridge on the busiest Pulwama-Sangam road.

The residents of the area told the news agency KNO that the bridge at Tahab was damaged about two months ago but repair work is yet to be taken up.

According to locals, vehicles are passing from one side of the culvert while the other has been damaged, causing a traffic jam.

He said that the road connects SIDCO Lassipora with Pulwama town which witnesses frequent movement of heavy vehicles but in absence of a full bridge, people suffer.

Ab Majeed, a local resident, said that hundreds of villages are affected due to the damaged bridge as people now have been taking long routes to reach their destinations.

Locals said that they brought the issue into the notice of higher ups several times but they were given only verbal assurances. They urged the higher ups to look into the matter at the earliest so that they can heave a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, an R&B Department official said that work on the culvert is expected to resume soon.

PULWAMA — A man, who had attempted suicide on Monday by slitting his veins in his vehicle on a roadside on the Circular Road in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district, was saved by the local police by shifting him to a local health facility.

In its statement, Pulwama Police said that Police Station Pulwama received reliable information about a vehicle bearing registration number JK13H 4042 was parked on Circular Road between Boonura and Tahab Crossing. A person, identified as Mukhtar Umar Wani son of Abdul Aziz Wani and a resident of Vesarwani Tahab, was lying inside the vehicle in a pool of blood after having slit his wrist.

Pulwama Police said that it acted swiftly given the critical condition of the person and rushed him to a local medical facility, from where he was subsequently referred to Sringar's SKIMS Soura for further treatment.

As per the latest reports, his condition is said to be stable and he has responded well to the treatment.

PULWAMA — A heartbreaking incident unfolded in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district as a young boy took his own life by strangulation.

According to a police official quoted by a Srinagar-based news agency, the boy, hailing from Tahab village of Pulwama, was found deceased in his home, having apparently strangled himself.

The authorities shifted the deceased's body from Tahab Primary Health Center to District Hospital Pulwama for necessary legal procedures, though the motive behind the tragic act remains unclear at this time.

In response to the incident, law enforcement has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the boy's untimely demise.

PULWAMA — A Kashmiri Pandit passed away due to cardiac arrest on Wednesday in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district, according to official sources.

The deceased, identified as Gayan Bhat from Tahab, had been residing in Jammu. Sources reported that Bhat was visiting relatives in Pulwama when he experienced chest pain during the night hours. He was swiftly rushed to the District Hospital Pulwama, where medical personnel pronounced him deceased.

The sudden demise of Gayan Bhat has cast a pall of mourning over the community, prompting arrangements for his final rites. Officials have indicated that his body will be dispatched to Jammu once road clearance is ensured, facilitating the completion of his last rites in his hometown.

SRINAGAR — The transfer policy of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir is not applicable to the influential and well-connected Junior Engineers of Jal Shakti Department of Pulwama division.

According to the sources of the department, these engineers are continuing to looting process with the approved contractors in the division and have been able to maintain themselves in the division for more than six years.

As per the rules, a government employee cannot stay at a place of posting for more than two or three years. However, Junior Engineers working in Jal Shakti Division Pulwama and Sub-Division Tahab have been staying in the same division for the last six years.

"To legitimize their long stay in the division and sub-division, what these engineers do is transfer themselves to another sub-division for a few months and later get themselves transferred to the previous division or sub-division,” said a source.

"They do this with the connivance of some senior officers of the department," another source said, adding that some of them have connived with the contractors in this division.

Sources in this department, as per the news agency CNS, revealed that AE Mohd Imran is continuing his position at Sub-Division Tahab and Division Pulwama for more than five years. "While JE Muhammad Maqbool Sheikh and Gulzar Ahmed are also being deputed from Tahab to Pulwama and vice versa."

According to sources in Sub-Division Pulwama, the proof of incompetence is the fact that the engineer posted here, Javed Ahmed Dar and Nazir Ahmad Bhat, were transferred to four places within a period of eight months.

On being contacted, the Chief Engineer of the concerned Jal Shakti Division was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.

SRINAGAR — Two non-local labourers were injured in a blast, possibly after an unattended explosive device, left at the place where an encounter had taken place in the past, went off while they were digging the earth at Tahab area of the south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday.

A senior police officer, as per news agency GNS, said that investigations were underway if the blast was due to some unattended shell or any other explosive device “possibly left at the place where an encounter had taken place two or three years ago.”

“While labourers were engaged in digging the earth, some kind of the blast took place and whether it was an old shell or some else explosive is being investigated,” the officer said. He said that both the labourers are out of danger as one suffered an injury in the hand and the other in his foot.

Sources said that the injured were identified as Muhammad Ishtiaq son of Mohammad Kareem-ud-din and Ranjeet Kumar Ram son of Mahinder Ram, both residents of Bihar. They were shifted to PHC Tahab from where the duo was referred to Barzulla Srinagar for advanced treatment.

PULWAMA — Panic continues in several villages of Pulwama district as wild bear continues to roam in the area while the Wildlife officials are on the job to capture the animal.

Locals from the Tahab area of Pulwama district said that there is fear among the people of the area as a bear injured four persons on Friday. They said that they are in constant fear and due to fear, they are not venturing out of their houses.

Wildlife officials have captured one bear from the Padgampora area, which is several kilometres away from the Tahab area, they added.

They requested authorities to capture the bear which is roaming in the Tahab area at the earliest so that locals can heave a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Wildlife in-charge of Pulwama and Shopian district Mudasir Ahmad said that they have captured one male bear today in orchards near Padgampora and one more bear has been spotted in the Naira Tahab area on the Jandwal route on Saturday evening.

He said that it is breeding time for animals and couples roam mostly and our team is on job to capture other bears in the area.

He further added people must follow advisories issued and shouldn't disturb our teams besides that there is no need to panic and very soon other bears will be captured too.

SRINAGAR — At least four persons were injured in a bear attack in Tahab and Malpora areas of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Friday.

An official said that a bear attacked and injured two persons in Tahab area of Pulwama who were later shifted to a hospital.

He said that among them, one was shifted to SMHS Hospital Srinagar where his condition is said to be stable.

“Later, the bear attacked two more persons in Malpora Nawhara area of Pulwama, who were injured in the incident, following which they were shifted to a hospital,” he added.

Meanwhile, a team from Wildlife Department has reached the spot and was on job to catch the bear.