Vol: 5 | No.: 6 | JUNE 30, 2012 Lab newspaper of Media Education Research Centre for private circulation only

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Vice President ABP News visits MERC

Rendezvous with Shashi Tharoor

KU reaffirms pledge to achieve quality in

academics

J&K second most accident-prone state in India

Heritage bridge awaits

restoration

Pahalgam residents rue official ban

See Page 3

MERCTIMES 2 JUNE 30th

Mir Zulqarnain

With steep increase in petrol pric-es, ever-increasing traffic con-gestion, high pollution levels and lifestyle health problems,

bicycle has emerged as a viable option to ad-dress all these issues.

Using bicycles in Srinagar city can re-duce air and noise pollution, and traffic jams to a significant extent. Besides being easy on pocket, cycling is also beneficial for health.

In many European countries, especially Scandinavian nations, bicycles have become integral part of urban transportation system.

“If western countries like Netherlands and Belgium could take up bicycle as the means of urban transport, why can’t we do it in Srinagar? With alarming rise in health problems and traffic mess, bicycles could prove to be a healthy option,” says Hillal Ah-mad Mir, an official in the state health depart-ment.

In the past bicycles were given on rent at some places in Srinagar and traveling in city would be quicker and stress-free.

“In 1954 when I was young I would get a bicycle for rent on a paltry sum of 4 annas (25 paisa) for whole day. If it was possible in that era, why not today?” says a retired lecturer.

There has been an exponen-tial increase in the number of vehicles in the valley over the years creating host of traffic related problems besides in-creasing the pollution level.

Showkat Ahmed Dar has been traveling from Bemina to Lal Chowk regularly on his bicycle and he has been reaping the benefits.

“In a local bus it takes me about 40-45 min-utes to reach my destination but on bicycle it takes me only 20 minutes, saves my bus fare and helps me stay fit,” says Dar.

With cars and bikes assuming status symbol, bicycles have gone out of fashion with the new generation.

“It is economical but unfashionable a bike would do better,” says a college student.

Some people believe media can play an important role in spreading awareness

about issues like traffic congestion, pol-lution and heath problems, and in the process promote bicycle as a feasible option of travel.

“Media coverage remains one of the most effective methods to spread mass awareness and make these efforts successful,” says Anil, a cycle activist.

“With the petrol prices inching towards Rs 100/litre mark, the ‘Zal Gur’, as the bi-cycle was known in Kashmiri, can serve as a good alternative option of transport. Bicycles hold the key in making the city cleaner, healthier and economical to live in,” he adds.

Cycling your way to healthier, economical city life

Tyba Bashir/ Amir Salati

While the government departments and agencies are busy blaming each other

for the inordinate halt in renova-tion of ‘Heritage Bridge’ at Zaina Kadal, shop owners complain that their business has been af-fected badly by the slothful res-toration work.

According to traders, the res-toration work was left midway. “Our business has come down by fifty per cent in the past three months,” says Kashmir Trad-ers Federation Shaher-e-Khaas (KTFS) President, Nazir Ahmed Shah.

The renovation of the heri-tage bridge is allotted to Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construc-tion Corporation (JKPCC). A tin fence has been erected on the two entrances of the half-dismantled bridge.

“The project is supposed to finish within three to six months but the work was stopped and the bridge was left in shambles, affecting our business and ve-hicular movement,” says Ishfaq

Banday, a silk yarn shop owner.Meanwhile, JKPCC officials

claim that the repair work has been halted due to reposition-ing of water pipelines. “We are bound to stop our work un-

til Public Health Engineering (PHE) doesn’t finish relocation of pipelines,” says L M Gupta.

However, PHE maintains that the shuffling of water pipe-lines has in no way intervened in the restoration of the bridge.

“We have nothing to do with what JKPCC is doing, pipeline relocation is not the cause of the halt,” says Chief Engineer PHE, G R Zargar.

“Our job is to supply water to the masses, the shuffling of wa-ter pipelines will be completed by July 10,” he added.

Some shop owners also blamed that the government de-partments concerned with the repair work lacked co-ordina-tion.

“They (departments) don’t have any co-ordination and lack proper management thereby posing inconvenience to peo-ple,” complained Fayaz Majid, a trader.

Heritage bridge awaits restoration Angry traders, residents allege official indifference, lack of coordination

Pic by: Amir Salati

MERCTIMES3JUNE 30th

Tyba Bashir

Increase in the number of road accidents has emerged as a major concern over the years in Kashmir valley with reckless driving proving to be one of the major

factors as per the official data. Jammu and Kashmir is at second place be-

hind Nagaland in high accidental death prone areas, according to the statistics provided by National Crime Record Bureau. Besides, J&K has double the death rate in road accidents as compared to the national level. The death rate in J&K in road accidents is 66.5 per cent against the national percentage of 37.2, as per the NCRB report.

The official statistics provided by Traffic Department Srinagar shows a steady rise in the number of road accidents from the year 2006 to 2011 even as there were lesser acci-dents reported in 2008 and 2010.

“Unrest in Kashmir in 2008 and 2010 was a key factor for lesser number of road acci-dents,” an official said.

The official statistics reveal interesting facts about road mishaps. Around 40 per cent accidents take place on highways while 15 per cent of mishaps involve motorcycles and scooters.

Meanwhile, people say the accidents have increased because even as the number of ve-hicles has increased, the infrastructure for supporting this huge traffic is inadequate.

“Roads are in ruins both in the city as well as rural areas. Srinagar-Jammu highway

J&K second most accident-prone state in India• 40 % mishaps take place on highways; 15 % involve motorcycles and scooters• J&K records 66.5 % against national average of 37.2 % in accidents • People blame inadequate road infrastructure, Traffic Police hold reckless driving responsible

Year Total accidents(all type of vehicles)

Motor cycle/scooter borne accidents

Persons killed Persons injured

2006 464 63 34 5002007 532 71 52 5792008 460 79 48 5402009 514 62 63 5372010 379 65 55 3932011 492 74 75 5112012(up to April end)

140 28 13 138

Major offences NumberUnregistered vehicles 655Without driving license 9021Overloading in passenger vehicle 1228Double pillion 1169Wrong parking 8691Mobile phone usage while driving 847Without crash helmet while riding motorcycle/scooter

2703

Without seat belt 4638Rash driving 1901Wrong stop by passenger bus 1146

is just not wide enough to accommodate the ever-increasing traffic. It is over-bur-dened and we don’t have an alternative road,” said a local resident, Maqbool Bhat.

However, traffic police blames negli-gence of the drivers for the high incidence of accidents.

“People should comply with traffic rules. Most mishaps occur due to negli-gence of public towards the safety mea-sures. We have passed traffic rules but nobody follows them,” said S.P Traffic (City), Haseeb ur Rehman.

“We don’t have infrastructure like rest of the country, we don’t have good roads and proper parking spaces, the least people can do is oblige with the safety measures provided in order to avoid more accidents and fatalities,” he added.

Source: J&K Traffic Department.

Source: J&K Traffic Department.

Pahalgam residents rue official banFayaz Wani/ Jahandad Bashir

Sara and 19 members of her family live in four rooms which were dam-aged in the windstorm

that swept across the valley on April 19. However, owing to the ban on construction works in Pahalgam, her family cannot go for repairs neither can they build more rooms to accommodate the large family.

“We don’t even get permis-sion to build bathroom,” said middle-aged Sara, widow of Gh-ulam Qadir Sheikh, whose house is located on Chandanvari road.

Other residents of Pahalgam also complain about problems faced by them due to the ban on

construction in the world famous tourist resort.

Unchecked construction in the green belt and along the banks of river Lidder evoked widespread concern. A Public In-terest Litigation was filed in this regard in 2008. Subsequently, on December 24, 2011, the high court ordered complete ban on con-struction or renovation.

“Windstorm took off my roof on April 19 and my family had to stay in open sky for one month, then I got permission from court to repair the roof,” said Jabbar Sheikh of Chandanvari road.

M Afzal, president of tourist stand Pahalgam, said they have suffered a lot. “We have been de-prived of our fundamental right

to build or renovate our houses,” he said.

Gulzar Ah-mad of Man-dlan said his house was damaged by w i n d s t o r m and he had to wait for three months for permission to repair it. “Dur-ing this period, we had to stay in open sky.”

Ghulam Qadir Malik of Mad-lan said the ban is depriving the area of development.

Abdul Rashid, a local resi-

dent, said Pahalgam Develop-ment Authority (PDA) do not al-low locals to furnish their houses even when there was no mention of that in the court order.

MERCTIMES 4JUNE 30th

Ubaid Shafi Bhat

Expressing disappoint-ment over the inordi-nate delay in passing of its proposal to set up

Transworld Muslim University, the influential socio-religious or-ganization, Jamiat-Ahli Hadith (JAH) maintains that the univer-sity would have helped improve the education scenario in Kash-mir valley.

Talking to MERC Times, General Secretary JAH, Abdur Rehman Bhat said the need to set up TMU stemmed from the weak-nesses in the education system in the valley.

“The idea is to develop a Mus-lim university for the 21st centu-ry. During the last more than two decades, we have failed to build proper education system because of the turmoil. Due to less intake capacity in the other universities of the valley, students are forced either to leave their studies or move outside the valley to contin-ue their studies, which is a costly affair,” Bhat said.

“There is a need to help those students who can’t afford to go outside for education. There is

Green signal eludes Transworld Muslim University

‘The varsity would have helped improve education scenario in Kashmir’

also a need for job-oriented cours-es so that youth can start their own ventures rather than become part of the ever increasing army of unemployed youth.”

In 2008, the then Chief Minister Gh-ulam Nabi Azad under cabinet or-der No.40- Rev/s of 2008, Dated 18-02-2008, allotted state land measuring 100 kanals 19 mar-las 5 sarai under Khasra No’s 168 & 180 situated at village Nambal-Narkaro, Budgam for TMU.

“The land was allotted to Jamiat at Budgam for building the uni-versity, hospital and library by Ghulam Nabi Azad against a transfer of land at Batamallo,” said Bhat.

The bill was introduced in

legislative assembly for approval but was not passed by the House. The bill was forwarded to Legisla-tive Council for necessary amend-ments and suggestions. But both

the Houses rather than passing the bill decided to form a joint selec-tive committee, having members from both the Houses, to look into the proposal.

“The bill was introduced in the assembly twice but it was forwarded to leg-islative council. Rather than exam-ining the bill, they suggested forming a joint selective

committee with members from both the Houses,” said Bhat

“Legislative assembly framed 10-member committee but the council failed to send the names of its members so after a dura-

tion of almost one year, no selec-tive committee was formed.” he added.

Bhat alleged the government of discriminatory attitude to-wards Kashmir by citing the ex-ample of Mata Vaishno Devi Uni-versity, which as per him, was not approved by the Legislative Assembly but the then Governor K V Krishna Rao prevailed upon Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdul-lah to reverse the decision.

The Jamiat general secretary said the government accused the organization of sectarian philoso-phy, centralization of powers and foreign funding.

“They accused us of sectar-ian philosophy but the fact is that as per the clause 6 of the bill, it is open to all irrespective of re-ligion, caste, creed and color,” Bhat said

About the centralization of powers, he said, “We have ap-pointed the CM of the state as the chancellor of the university as suggested by the government.”

About the allegation of for-eign funding he said, “We don’t need any foreign funding. We have enough resources to help our cause.”

The bill was introduced in the

assembly twice but it was forwarded

to legislative council. Rather than examining

the bill, they suggested forming

a joint selective committee with

members from both the Houses

Bilal Bhat

Residents of Nigeen Bagh have ac-cused Power Development Depart-ment of putting their lives at risk by not replacing the decayed elec-

tric poles.People fear these damaged electric poles

can fall any time resulting in losses to life and property.

“The department has failed to replace the poles despite the fact that new poles were sanctioned and brought here. But for the last two years the damaged poles were not replaced with the new ones which are still lying on the ground,” the residents com-plained.

The locals said some poles have been erected adjacent to their houses and the wires are dangling close to roof tops increas-ing the risk of short circuit.

People blamed PDD officers of non-seri-ousness approach towards the issue.

“With the faulty wires and decayed poles, anything untoward can happen and the onus will lie on PDD officials,” the locals said.

“We requested PDD officers to replace the lines and damaged poles several times, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” Dil-shada a local resident said.

When contacted, the concerned Junior Engineer PDD, Majid said, “We haven’t re-ceived any written complaint of such kind. Last time we received a complaint we went to the spot but the locals disputed over in-stallation of the poles. We replaced five dam-aged poles last year.”

“If people are facing problems they should come forward with an application. Every process follows a procedure so we have to go through paper work so that we can forward it to concerned Executive Engineer. We are also planning to replace faulty wires in some of the areas in future to prevent any untoward incident,” he added.

Nigeen Bagh residents demand replacement of decayed electric poles

MERCTIMES5JUNE 30th

Sameem Khan

With the emphasis on self–introspection and “Total Quality Management”, Uni-

versity of Kashmir’s Annual Re-port-2011 has identified areas of improvement besides highlight-ing the achievements.

The report includes profile of every department, highlight-ing departmental activities of the past four years, especially with regard to academics and re-search.

“It is a step towards self–in-trospection and assessment to identify the grey areas and per-form better,” reads the 400-page report, published by Directorate of Internal Quality Assurance (DIQA).

The areas highlighted in the report include conferences/seminars held, eminent schol-ars who visited the departments, increase in infrastructural fa-cilities, plans for the year 2012, faculty profile (including quali-fication, areas of specialization, details of classes attended, semi-nars attended, research projects initiated/completed, publica-tions, research guidance, grey

areas).The departmental profiles

have been highlighted in the report to help the faculty assess achievements and weaknesses on academic and research fronts.

As per the report there has been a marked improvement in the academic front over the years. There has been a consid-erable increase in the number of PhDs produced and research pa-pers and journals published.

“150 students were awarded MPhil and 65 PhD in various disciplines in the year 2011. A re-cord of 611 research papers and 20 Journals were published by various departments last year,”

according to the reportThe grey areas identified in

the report include dearth of fac-ulty, paucity of space and insuf-ficient laboratory infrastructure for undertaking research apart from limited financial resources and budgetary support.

The report has been com-piled under the supervision of DIQA Director, Prof Aijaz Ban-day.

“Annual Report-2011 is an interface between the university and the society at large. Since it is mandatory to document and publish the activities of the uni-versity, necessitated by our will-ingness to have self-introspec-

tion and external assessment, we have therefore displayed our achievements and weaknesses before the stakeholders and so-ciety within and outside the val-ley,” Prof Banday said.

“This would help the Univer-sity to encourage accountability in its quest for excellence,” he added.

Director DIQA said the pub-lication is a step towards show-casing the home grown quality consciousness of students, schol-ars, faculty, administrators and others who have put in their best efforts to excel for sustenance and improvement.

Vice Chancellor, Prof Talat Ahmed said the report is aimed to highlight achievements of the university and also to identify priorities for vibrant academic and global competition.

“It helps to project the uni-versity as an excellent institu-tion of learning and research in the academic circles and civil society,” he said while appreciat-ing the efforts made by DIQA in drafting the report.

The university has been awarded ‘Grade A’ by National Assessment Accreditation Coun-cil (NAAC) and the certificate is valid till September 2016.

KU reaffirms pledge to achieve quality in academicsAnnual Report highlights achievements, points out grey areas

Sameem Khan

Twitter may have been responsible for his undoing but MP Shashi Tharoor maintains that social media has al-lowed him to reach to a wider section of people beyond his constituency.

Rendezvous with Shashi Tharoor ‘Social media helps connect

with masses making democracy accessible’

“It (social media) helps us connect directly with masses making democracy accessible,” said Tharoor while talking to a select gathering of people at Dachigam Wild Life sanctuary.

The gathering mostly includ-ed acquaintances of Tharoor's wife Sunanada, a Kashmiri by birth. She was in Srinagar to cel-ebrate her birthday.

Tharoor talked about a myr-iad of things- controversies, books and politics.

Answering a question about

the identity of characters in his books he said, “India is a plural land with every person having many different identities. We are Hindus, Muslims, Kashmi-ri's Marathis but we are all Indi-ans.”

Brushing aside the contro-versies he always finds himself in, , Tharoor said most of them are trivial and a gift of media.

“Media thrives on controver-sies and at times for the sake of breaking news goes to murky ex-tent,” he said.

MERCTIMES 6JUNE 30th

Sameem Khan

Vice President, Human Resourc-es, Anand Bazar Patrika Group (formerly Star News) Satyakki Bhattacharjee visited Media

Education Research Centre (MERC) Uni-versity of Kashmir on June 17 and inter-acted with the students and the faculty.

Speaking on the contemporary media scene, he highlighted the essential skills required to be a good journalist.

“Your focus should be to make a ca-reer and not just to get a job,” he advised the students.

“Try to avoid Goal Myopia”, he add-ed,

Talking about the skills required to be a good journalist Bhattacharjee listed curios-ity, communication skills and a sense of free-dom as essentials.

“You need to be a keen observer besides having the ability to work under pressure be-

yond time constraints,” he remarked.Bhattacharjee stressed on the need to

“read more, write more” for better under-standing of issues.

“Aim at describing effectively after get-ting your basics right.”

Earlier while welcoming the guest, HoD MERC, Prof Mufeed Ahmad talked about the need to learn media manage-ment “so that we know a little of every-thing to be employable in various media houses”.

Prof Mufeed said there is an urgent need to acquire knowledge and sharpen the skills as per the needs and require-ments of media industry.

“The department will take all possible steps to enhance interaction with the me-dia houses and offers of placement will be appreciated,” he added.

Proposing the vote of thanks, senior faculty MERC, Nasir Mirza remarked that industry-university inter face helps

students to make better career choices in the ever-changing and ever-growing field of mass media.

“Such sessions enable the department to make courses in sync with the needs of the present times,” he added.

MERC NEWS DESK

Students of Media Education Research Centre (MERC) led by senior faculty Nasir Mirza and Editor Muslim Jan

called on the visiting sub-committee of the Press Council of India (PCI) in Srinagar on June 18. The PCI team was led by

convener and chairman of the subcom-

mittee of PCI, Kasori Amarnath. The sub committee members also met various jour-nalist associations of the valley.

The interaction organized by the Department of Information and Public Rela-tions. The PCI team deliberated on the is-sues concerning journalists while discharg-ing their professional duties.

The meeting other members of the

sub–committee included Arvind Tingse, Kalyan Barooh and Sanjay Bene Patel. Shujaat Bukhari and Peerzada Ashiq, co-opted members of the sub-committee, were also part of the interaction sessions.

The MERC students who attended the interaction session included Abdi Hafiz, Abdi Nissar, Suheem and Fazil Qayoom.

Vice President ABP News visits MERC Asks students to focus on career not just jobs

MERC team interacts with PCI Sub Committee

MERCTIMES7JUNE 30th

Sajad Rasool

Ever since it was set up in 2003, Gov-ernment Primary School of Mir Mo-hala Rahakyee in Budgam district has been in a neglected state.

Although the government has officially called it a Primary School, in reality it is only a 6 x 10 feet rented room in which 30 children sit crammed together.

Farooq Ahmad is the only teacher at the school. He says he raised the issue with the higher officials many times, but to no avail.

“I visited Zonal Education Office several times but no ac-tion has been taken yet. I had also written many applications to the concerned officials and even spoke to them but nothing happened,” says Farooq.

“In 2008 its status was changed to that of a Primary School, but its infrastructure re-mained the same. I am not able to teach every subject as I also have to “man-age other official work,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the local residents say they have no option but to send their wards to the school.

“People living here work as farmers and their financial condition is terrible,” says a local resident, Abdul Samad Bhat. “For this reason, we cannot afford to send our children to private schools and have to remain contend

with the one provided by the government. When the owner of the room has any func-tion in family, the school remains closed,” he adds.

The school was first set up as part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) project for children who did not get proper schooling. Locals blame the Zonal Education Officer for the problem.

“Despite tall claims made about the up-gradation of the infrastructure in the educa-tion sector, our school has been forgotten by the government. It neither has got a building nor a toilet due to which the standard and quality of education is falling,” said a local social activist, Merajuddin.

According to Sarpanch (village head) of the village, during the winter months and rainy season, parents refuse to send their

children to school as the room does not have adequate heating facilities.

“Also the Midday Meal Scheme is also not properly implemented during these seasons,” he says.

When contacted ZEO Hardpanzoo (Bud-gam) Zone, Ghulam Hassan said, “We have already written to the authorities of SSA in this connection and we are trying to get funds

released soon.”About 4830 educational

institutions across Jammu and Kashmir are without buildings. The startling fig-ures have come to fore in the latest Economic Survey tabled by the government in the Legislative Assembly in 2011.

The survey says that 4119 primary schools, 628 middle schools, 76 high schools and seven higher secondary schools are without build-ings and are being run from rented buildings or by inter-

nal arrangement.Apart from this, 984 upgraded institu-

tions are deficient in accommodation, which include 611 high schools and 373 higher sec-ondary schools.

Figures further reveal that 474 primary school buildings are in dilapidated condition with 28 upper middle schools without any building at all, while 52 primary institutions lack drinking water and toilet facility.

This primary school runs in rented room with one teacher

Locals allege official neglect

Umaira Hassan

Increase in competition and over-emphasis on academic performance has over-burdened school

going children affecting their physical as well as mental health.

Over the years, schools have changed their syllabi incorporating more subjects, which means more books. One can see the children dragging heavy bags on their tender

shoulders.“My bag is so heavy that I

cannot even walk properly,” said Wamiq Ajaz, a K.G. stu-dent.

More and more children are developing back deformi-ties because of the weight of the heavy bags. According to a report published in a London based newspaper, Daily Mail, in England half of the children suffer from back pain by the age of 14 and doctors are re-porting a rise in case of spinal

Heavy bags hurt kidsChildren should not carry more than 25% of their body weight: Expert

abnormalities in children includ-ing disfiguring curvature. The dis-ease is known as Scoliosis.

“Heavy bags can put pressure on the disc between the vertebrae which can cause long term back pain in children. They can suffer muscular pain, head-ache, tingling, numbness in arms and legs,” said Dr Farhan, a paediatrician at Srinagar’s G B Pant hospital.

“Children should never carry more than 25 per cent of their body weight. Parents can help in packing the children rucksacks and make sure that heavier items are nearer to back,” he said.

Heavier items on the outside of the back tend to disturb the weight distribu-tion around the child’s centre of gravity.

“My child looks exhausted all the time. He is too lazy to even play. The syl-labus is burdening not only our wards but us also. We don’t get time to speak to our child about other things,” said Nus-rat Hamid, a working lady while drop-ping her daughter at a local school.

MERCTIMES 8

Patron: Vice-chancellor Prof. Talat AhmadChief Editor:Prof S Mufeed Ahmad, Editor: Muslim Jan, Sub-Editor : Suhail Ahmad

Graphic Designer: Aga Shahi Students Editorial team: Imran Parray, Ab Rouf Bhat, Qayoom, Basit, Ruhail

e-mail: editor.merc@gmail.com/website : www.mercs.uok.edu.in

JUNE 30th

Umar Hayat Hussain

Kashmir’s historic but largely forgotten fort is the only surviving fort of the valley built by

Atta Mohammad in 1808 AD.Built atop Kohi Maran (Hari

Parbat) hill, this fort was used by the pathans as cantonment. They used it to keep vigil over the city and guard it against the invad-ers.

For the last 22 years the fort has remained out of bounds for public. It was briefly thrown open for general visitors on April 22, 2007 for a few days.

Hari Parbat is known for the shrine of Hazrat Shiek Hamza (RA), popularly known as Makh-doob Sahib, the Mosque of Mul-lah Akhund, Sarika Devi Temple

and Gurduwara Chatti Padshahi in the foothills.

People who visit these places are not able to see the fort be-cause of the restrictions.

The fort also has three ponds adding to its charm.

From the fort, one can see large part of Srinagar city es-pecially areas like Badamwari, Jamia Masjid and Hazratbal.

Noted Kashmiri poet, Zareef Ahmed Zareef who lives near the fort recalled his childhood days when he and his classmates used to have a long walk towards the fort.

“I still remember the day when I was hardly eight years old when during the Urs of Makh-doom Sahib I heard a large explo-sion from the fort. I later came to know that Maharaja of Kashmir

Hari Singh had installed a large cannon inside the fort. The can-non fire was used to indicate time of the day. Two explosions could be heard one in the morning and another in the afternoon,” Zareef said.

Besides the government, he also holds people responsible for the neglect of the fort.

“It is our moral obligation to preserve such historic sites but unfortunately we have not been able to preserve them. Locals are equally responsible for the vana-dalization of the fort,” he said.

When contacted Deputy Di-rector of Archaeology, Muham-mad Shafi Zahid said his depart-ment, which is the care taker of the fort, was not able to handle it properly because of the turmoil.

He said the department has so far spent two crores on the renovation of the fort.

“Nearly 90 per cent of re-pair work inside the fort has been completed. The fort will be thrown open for general public in the coming months when the construction is completed,” Za-hid said.

It will be thrown open for general

public soon: Official

Hari Parbat fort remains out of bound for people