Jammu: As neighbouring Punjab has backtracked on an agreement on sharing water of the Ravi, the state government has constituted a committee to take up the matter with Punjab. Minister for Public Health Engineer (PHE) and Irrigation Taj Mohi-ud-Din said this today in the Legislative Assembly while replying to the discussions on the demand of grant under his charge.

Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla has said due to drought in 2009 more than 50 per cent loss was suffered to kharif crops in 18 districts, including Kathua and Samba.

In a bid to check the growing level of noise and air pollution, the district administration here has served show-cause notices on the managements of 28 government and private establishments for causing pollution in the town by running power generator sets without following the mandatory rules and regulations.

J.L.Sharma, Director Horticulture, Jammu reviewed the progress of implementation of Horticulture Technology Mission Programme and other Developmental Schemes under operation in Kathua district in a meeting with all the district Block level Officers today at Horticulture complex, Kathua. Director Horticulture took stock of progress made under current rainy season Plantation Programme in the Qistrict and P J.L.Raina, Chief Horticulture Officer, Kathua informed that 312 hectare being taken under fruit plantation in all the four blocks viz.

KATHUA : A seven member committee was constituted by District Development Commissioner Kathua, Sarita Chauhan today to sort out the problem arising due to flooding of National Highway from Kalibari to Kathua town due to unpredictably heavy rainfall on the intervening night of June 7 and 8. The heavy downpour resulted in water entering the houses of people and water logging on the National Highway.

From pugmarks to high-tech equipment like satellite imagery and camera-traps. That's how census on wild animals in Jammu and Kashmir is graduating. Come March, and the state Government will undertake two scientific censuses on three wild animals: the highly-endangered hangul, also called the Kashmir stag, the common leopard and the Asiatic black bear, also known as Himalayan black bear. To be conducted in collaboration with the Central Government, the censuses will also get expert help from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. J&K Chief Wildlife Warden A K Srivastava says, "While one census will be on the endangered hangul, found only in Kashmir, the other will focus on the common leopard and the Asiatic black bear.' The Kashmir stag census will be utilised to protect the endangered animal, and the other will be used to deal with the increasing incidents of the man-animal conflicts in the state. Srivastava says the earlier censuses conducted by the state Government were not accurate as these were carried out "on the basis of their pugmarks'. "But the new censuses will be carried out, using the most high-tech equipment like satellite imagery and camera-traps,' he adds. Cameras will be put on trees in the forest areas, which will trap the movement of wild animals, recording their actual number with the help of satellite imagery. The Centre has agreed in principle to fund the census projects. "In Jammu, experts from the Wildlife Institute of India will hold a three-day training workshop for divisional forest officers and range officers of the state forest and wildlife departments,' adds Srivastava. While the hangul is not harmful, the other two have caused man-animal conflicts in the state over the past two years, killing over three dozen and injuring more than 200 people. While the hangul census will mainly focus on the Kashmir valley, the other one will cover various areas