Srinagar, Jan 19:Doctors Association Kashmir on Saturday called LD incident unfortunate and appealed the authorities to conduct an impartial probe on fast track basis to ascertain the facts and punish the guilty.

The spokesman said that it is disgusting, unfortunate and pathetic that a pregnant woman who had been referred from Kalaroos Kupwara (150 KM from LD hospital) was denied admission in LD hospital and was asked to leave the hospital at around 8:00 PM and subsequently she delivered on the roadside at Bemina Byepass.

President DAK Dr Suhail Naik said that any referral from the rural health system to medical colleges must be always respected irrespective of medical condition and complication. Sometimes patients are referred to higher setups due to social, emotional and their choice of choosing the place of treatment. It is our professional responsibility that we must consider patient rights, as a basic component of human rights, and support and strengthen them in social terms also.

 

General Secretary DAK, Dr Owais H Dar said that It is Painful and unfortunate that a patient from Kalaroos Kupwara was asked to leave the hospital at 8:00 pm in harsh winters in the month of Chilikalan.  Traditionally our Mosques, Shrines and hospitals are also shelter places for displaced persons.

We request principals of all medical colleges to issue an order wherein any patient who is referred from rural health care system to central hospitals by any specialist should be admitted for at least twenty four hours irrespective of his medical condition.

Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) requests the Governor led administration for the impartial probe to ascertain the facts and circumstances so that that guilty if any may be punished as per the law of the land.

Jammu, Jan 19:National Conference on Saturday ruled out any alliance in the ensuing elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Coalition culture does not suit the state like Jammu and Kashmir, which is confronted with numerous challenges with the people essentially craving for peace and normalcy, development and progress”, Provincial President Devender Singh Rana said while addressing a meeting of the provincial body and senior leaders.

Rana said the National Conference will reach out to the people with its plank of development, peace, progress, employment and the agenda of preserving the special identity of the state and satiating the urges and aspirations of all the regions.

 

Regional autonomy, he said, is a way forward to fulfill the urges of the people and empowering them at all levels with opportunities to all.

Elaborating on going to polls alone, Rana said the leadership has already made it clear that National Conference will not forge any alliance with any political party as it believes the people as main fountain of power.

He said the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have realized the crucial need of strong and stable government as a dispensation on crutches cannot deliver on governance front, which has been proven many a times.

The Provincial President also reiterated the resolve of National Conference to offer any sacrifice for preserving and strengthening Article 370 and Article 35A, which are facing a threat from inimical forces, who have been engineering overt and covert machinations to weaken these constitutional provisions.

He said the people of the State, irrespective of their religious or regional affiliations have foiled all these attempts in the past and are ready to isolate proponents of weakening these constitutional guarantees.

Srinagar, Jan 19: Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh district has emerged as a favourite destination for foreign tourists as nearly 50,000 people from abroad visited the land of high passes last year, tourism officials said Saturday.

The overall tourist arrivals in 2018 in the district, located at an altitude of 3,524 metres (11,562 ft), also crossed three lakh mark for the first time, setting a new record, the officials said.

“A total of 3,27,366 tourists, including 49,477 foreigners, visited Leh in 2018, marking an increase of over 50,000 compared to the previous year,” a senior official of the state Tourism Department told PTI.

 

He said the tourist arrivals in the district first touched the six-figure mark in 2011 when 1,79,491 tourists, including 36,662 foreigners, visited the district.

The feat was achieved a year after sudden floods in August – considered as the peak tourist season – caused by a cloudburst heavily damaged the town.

In 2014, the record number of 59,305 western backpackers flocked the area along with over 1.21 lakh domestic tourists.

The number of tourist arrivals, however, dropped to 1.46 lakh in 2015 but picked up again next year, crossing 2.33 lakh, including 37,497 foreigners, the official said, adding the figures reached 2,77,255 in 2017, including 46,593 foreigners in 2017.

Ladakh, also known as the cold desert, usually remains cut off from rest of the country owing to heavy snowfall which blocks 434-km Srinagar-Leh and 490-km Manali-Leh highways for months together owing to heavy snowfall along the high passes.

Last year, the Centre had approved the construction of the 14.2-km long tunnel project, Asia’s longest bi-directional Zojila Pass tunnel at an estimated cost of Rs 6,089 crore, to provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil, and Leh which, when completed, will further give a boost to the tourism sector in the region.

“The tourist arrivals by road remain restricted between April and October, as a result of which other months of the year record a very low turnout,” the official said.

Last year, he said that 5,665 tourists arrived in January followed by 1,136 in February, 1,298 in March and 11,277 in April when the road connectivity to the region was restored.

As many as 44,583 tourists visited Leh in May followed by 77,041 in June, 70,139 in July, 53,621 in August, 38,049 in September, 20,784 in October, 2,416 in November and 1,357 in December, the official said.

The highest number of 13,033 foreign tourists visited Leh in August followed by 12,226 in July, 7,355 in September and 6,209 in June, the official said adding only 421 foreigners visited the region in January, 476 in February, 523 in March, 2,678 in April, 2,785 in May, 3,223 in October, 286 in November and 262 in December.

“Leh district possesses immense tourism potential and the Governor’s administration is keen to upgrade its tourism-related infrastructure to attract increased tourist footfall to the region,” Chief Secretary B V R Subramanyam, who visited Leh on Friday and held a series of meetings, said.

Expressing happiness over the increasing trend of tourist inflow to Leh, the chief secretary stressed on Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, to work out a master plan for guiding tourism sector towards inclusive and sustainable development of the district.