Blast incidents evoke wide condemnations

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 12: Two consecutive blasts at Sealdah Express and at Krishna Nagar within less than 24 hours in which nine precious lives were lost besides rendering scores of others injured, have evoked wide-spread condemnations from cross sections of the society and the political leadership.

National Conference state general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed Advocate, while condemning the acts of terrorism, has prayed for speedy recovery of the injured persons and expressed deep sympathies with the bereaved families. He appealed the people of Jammu to remain calm and vigilant and help the administration and security forces in defeating the nefarious designs of anti-national elements and terrorists as also their foreign mentors to aggravate the situation in Jammu region. Sheikh Nazir Ahmed said the act of the militants speaks volumes about the level of frustration among them who have targetted innocent civilians. He called upon the administration to bring the culprits to the book and pay necessary compensation to the bereaved families.

Jammu provincial committee of National Conference in a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Bodh Raj Bali condemned the cowardly act of terrorism and expressed condolences and conveyed sympathies to the bereaved families. While condemning the blasts Mr Bali stated that no religion approves killing of innocent people and appealed the people to remain united. Those who participated in the meeting included Messrs Rattan Lal Gupta, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Brij Mohan Sharma, Jugal Mahajan, Gurdeep Singh Sasan, Chander Dhar, S Peter, Ms Zubaida Salaria and Ms Bimla Luthra (MLAs), Jatinder Bakshi, Darshan Lal Jain, Ramnik Singh Bijral, Raja Navid Ahmed, Jagdish Bassan, Dr Tara Chand, Sunil Dharmat and Ashok Kumar.

Youth National Conference leaders in a meeting have also condemned the blasts. The speakers included Messrs A K Wani, Dr Shafi, Ravi Mahajan, Sukhdev Singh, Chander Mohan Sharma and Ms Daljeet Kour.

Muslim Federation Jammu in a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Abdul Majid discussed the prevailing situation and condemned the innocent killings. The speakers demanded strict vigil by security forces and the people so as to ensure public safety. Demanding immediate release of ex-gratia relief to the bereaved families the Federation demanded best possible medicare to the injured. The Muslim Federation also called for uninterrupted power supply in the region to ensure safety and security of the people and provide succour to the students, whose studies were getting hampered due to absence of light.

Pradesh Congress Committee in its meeting under the presidentship of Ch Mohd Aslam expressed shock and surprise over two powerful blasts within 24 hours in Jammu, which claimed so many precious human lives.

The Congress leaders while addressing condemned the blasts and expressed anguish over lapse of security arrangements. They said blasts in the city show that one is not safe in his house. They also held power cut during night hours responsible for such acts of sabotage by militants and anti-national elements.

The PCC took strong exception to the present law and order situation and held both Central and State Governments responsible for the same. They said tall claims of normalcy were hollow and that state and central governments have lost the moral right to rule.

Prominent among those present in the meeting included Miss Mehbooba Ali Shah and Messrs S Praduman Singh Azad, Ram Dass Dogra, Lal Mohd Sabir, Yash Paul Khajuria, Dr Nirmal Kamal, Mrs Anayat Bibi, Om Chopra, Madan Lal Sharma, Ch Zafarullah Azad, Th Diwan Singh Langeh, R N Hanjura, Th Hari Singh, Vinod Sharma, Mohd Sultan, Maheshwar Singh, Ch Fateh Mohd, Shakuntala Devi and Baldev Sharma.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Ram Sahai said that spontaneous reaction of the people on the incident of bomb blast near GGM Science College, where people resorted to stone pelting and slogan shouting against administration in general and power department in particular, should be an eye opener for the authorities that be.

Mr Ram Sahai while condemning the two blast incidents reminded the authorities that like the current blast the Raghunath Bazar blast had also occured during power cut. He said the Government continue to be sounded since long about the repercussions of power cuts during night hours but the state authorities have maintained a steadied silence over the matter.

The Chamber called upon the Government to see the writing on the wall and act before it was too late and beyond control.

Janata Dal (Secular) in a meeting chaired by Mr Dhan Raj Bargotra, president condemned in strong terms the blasts at Supwal and at Krishna Nagar and described the same as failure on the part of State and Central Governments. The meeting demanded immediate ex-gratia relief to the next of kin of the deceased and wished an early recovery to those injured in these incidents. Others who addressed included Messrs Mast Nath Yogi, Sardar Kulbir Singh, Bhagwati Sharan , vice presidents of JD-S demanded free hand to security forces to contain militancy and liquidate militants. Two minutes silence was observed for peace to those killed in these blasts.

J&K State unit of Rashtriya Janata Dal under the presidentship of Syed Ghulam Nabi condemned the blasts and called for adequate compensation to the affected families.

Others who spoke included Messrs Des Raj Gupta and M L Raina.

Yuva Rashtriya Janata Dal in a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Vijay Mahajan and attended among others by Messrs Dharam Paul Kataria, Sumit Gupta, Abul Hassan, Gul Mohd. strongly condemned the blast incidents and called for strict vigil by security forces. They also called for maintenance of communal harmony and peace at all costs.

R S Sharma, MLA Nowshera, has expressed shock over loss of innocent lives in bomb blasts and condemned the explosions terming these as brutal act of terrorism. In a statement Mr Sharma said these incidents have clearly demonstrated that terrorists working at the behest of Pakistan were having no qualms of conscience. He added that it was for the security forces and the state police to mount vigil to the extent that such blasts do not recur and innocent lives were saved. Mr Sharma also expressed shock over killing of three Kashmiri Pandits in Telwani, Anantnag.

Scheduled Tribe Morcha of BJP has condemned the blasts. Ch Noor Ahmed, spokesman and secretary of Morcha expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and demanded immediate payment of ex-gratia to the affected families. Others present in the said meeting were Mohd Sardar Khatana, Ghulam Haider Atish, Ch Salam Din, Mohd Adris Tabasum and Ch Mohd Latif.

State Bahujan Samaj Party leaders Messrs G L Bhagat, H R Chargotra, Tulsi Dass Langeh, S Manjit Singh Advocate and others in a meeting held today condemned the blast incidents at Supwal near Vijaypur and at Krishna Nagar in which several precious lives were lost and over two dozen people injured. While analyzing the present law and order situation the BSP leaders gathered that militancy in J&K state was increasing day by day and the lives of common people were at stake. Congress Seva Dal in a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr Ramesh Gupta, organising secretary, condemned the blast incidents. The meeting among others was attended by Messrs Vijay Sharma, Ms Kanta Bhan, Ajay Kumar, Ritish Gupta, Jagan Nath Sharma, Shakuntla Devi, Sunita Gupta, Kuldeep Raj Gupta, Amit Gupta and Raj Kumar.

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party president Sardar Mushtaq Ahmed Khan in a statement has condemned the incidents of blasts at Supwal and at Krishna Nagar Jammu and held that the militants were totally frustrated and have resorted to inhuman and barbaric actions after having failed on all fronts.

While expressing deep sympathies with the bereaved families he demanded adequate compensation to next of kin of the deceased. The party also appealed the people to maintain complete communal harmony and amity to frustrate the evil designs of anti-national elements.

The J&K Nationalist Congress Party in a meeting under the presidentship of Thakur Randhir Singh, condemned the blasts and showed sympathies with the bereaved families and wished an early recovery of those injured in both the blast incidents. Messrs Abdul Ghani Shah, Pardeep Singh Parihar, Ch Hussain Ali, Paras Ram Poonchi, Madan Lal, Amrit Sagar, Bakshi Inder Mohan, Master Akram Ahmed, Nater Parkash Sharma, Prof Baldev Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Sadar-ud-Din Keen, Peer Baba Majeed, Ashok Sehgal, Pankaj Kohli, Karan Singh, D N Raina, Sardar Surjit Singh and Col Parihar.

J&K People’s Democratic Party in a meeting under the chairmanship of S Surinder Singh condemned series of blasts in and around Jammu and asked the Central Government to dismiss Farooq Abdullah Government for having failed to contain militancy. The speakers in the meeting demanded adequate ex-gratia relief to the next of kin of deceased persons and wished an early recovery to those injured in the explosions. Others who spoke included Messrs Romesh Kapoor, S Pritam Singh, Ashok Sharma, Girdhari Lal, Dina Nath and Shobha Ram.

Students and staff of Government SPMR College of Commerce in a meeting condoled the death of innocent people who got killed in explosion in the vicinity of the college. The meeting which was chaired by College Principal, observed two minutes silence for peace to the departed soul and courage to the bereaved families to bear with the irreparable loss. The speakers called for beefing up security measures to restore the confidence of the people.

The BJP vice presidents Mr Hans Raj Dogra, MLA and Mr Chander Mohan Sharma advocate have held NC Government responsible killings of innocent people in series of blasts in Jammu within 24 hours. the BJP leaders visited the affected families and after expressing their sympathies with them also urged the Government to pay adequate compensation and ex-gratia relief to the next of kin of the deceased persons.

Vishav Hindu Parishad Jammu and Kashmir also condemned blast at Krishna Nagar yesterday. The meeting was attended among others by Messrs Khem Chand Sharma, Rama Kant Dubey, Vishal, Surinder Sharma, Vijay Shastri and others who also visited hospital to inquire about the well being of those injured in the blast.

Dogra Sadar Sabha in a meeting under the chairmanship of Thakur Gulchain Singh Charak, president, condemned in strong terms the two powerful blasts which claimed the lives of so many innocent people and urged the Government to pay adequate compensation and ex-gratia relief to the affected families.

Senior trade unionists Messrs Sampat Parkash, Shakti Gupta and Som Nath (Udhampur) have also condemned the explosion by anti-national elements at Supwal and Jammu and conveyed their sympathies with the bereaved families.

BJP Rajouri general secretary Mr Sham Sood and City president Mr Yogesh Sharma have in a joint statement strongly condemned the blasts occurring in areas of Jammu and urged the Government for extra vigil to ward off any untoward incident.

Canal Road Welfare Association, Jammu, in a meeting under the presidentship of Mr Pardeep Singh Manhas, condemned the blast incident. The meeting also criticised the Power Development Department for resorting to power cut during peak hours.

Other organisations which condemned the blast incidents and called for adequate release of ex-gratia relief and compensation besides best possible medical assistance to those injured included Rashtriya Sewika Samiti, J&K People’s Democratic Party, Secular Party of India, Kashmiri Hindu Fire Sufferers Forum, All J&K Mahasha Sadar Sabha, Jammu, Students and staff of Government College of Education, People Welfare Association, Jammu, Shri Guru Ravi Dass Satsang Society, Jammu, All J&K Ravi Dass Sabha, Jammu Tawi, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, Democratic Youth Federation of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Jammu, Federation of Jammu (North) Traders Association, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Jammu and Dr Kulwant Singh, convenor and State Forum for Justice and Human Rights.

Environment Focus
How houseplants grow clean air for you?

By Gopal Sharma

Top 10 Houseplants
rated best for Chemical vapour removal, maintenance, growth and cleaning pollutants from the air are : 1. Areca Palm, 2. Bamboo Palm, 3. Lady Palm, 4. Rubber Plant, 5. Dracaena, 6. English Lvy, 7. Dwarf Date Palm, 8. Ficus Alii, 9. Boston Fern, 10. Peace Lily.

With continuous onslaught on resources of lithosphere and industrialisation the man for ‘so called’ rapid development has converted the basic life supporting systems air and water into its own resources. As a result, we can see the serious degradation and depletion through their overuse, misuse and mismanagement. Serious degradation in quality of air has no longer remained a problem for the developed countries only but has spread its tentacles on urban sector of the developing countries.

This problem has posed a major threat to the human life in the cities and towns where trees and plants have vanished and remaining are being felled mercilessly in the name of development. A good number of old trees are dying due to increasing pollution level in big cities. Several trees are felling ill and its has been observed that the bark breaks itself and sap oozes out in slow process. Under such threatening circumstances the houseplants are playing a significant role to clean the pollutants from the surrounding air, minimising the increasing pollution impact to some extent. The environmentalists and the Scientists are encouraging people of such cities and areas to keep houseplants at least to breath in some better quality air for the longer survival.

It has been generally observed that the people belonging to rich class or those belonging to field of Science or the seniors in the Armed Forces keep the plants in different types of pots at their residential places and really know their purpose. There is another class which keeps the houseplants to add its beauty or for hobby sake. There are lesser people who really know and realise the vital use and importance of the plants in their life.

An environmental engineer, Bill Wolverton has identified ten top houseplants best for chemical vapor removal, ease of growth and maintenance, resistance to pests and rate of water evaporation. These plants are Areca palm, Lady palm, Bamboo palm, Rubber plant, Dracaena, English Lvy, Dwarf Date palm, Ficus Alii, Bosten fern and Peace Lily.

According to him, three common houseplants were taken up for the test to see the ability in removing formaldehyde from the air and it was found that spider plants were the champs, removing 95 Per cent of the toxic substance from a Plxyglass chamber in 24 hours. It was also observed that the type of plants also clean the air contaminants ranging from Ammonia to Benzene. Such toxics are emitted from countless sources in our daily life, including adhesives, ceiling tiles, photo-copiers and upholstery.

The most common air pollutants are Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Sulphur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Hydrocarbons, and Photochemical oxidants. SPM is caused due to combustion of solid fuels, construction activities, industrial process , vehicles atmospheric reactions, natural events like forest fires, wind erosion, volcanic eruptions. The principal sources of Sulphur Dioxide are combustion of fossil fuels, refining of petroleum, smelting of ores containing Sulphur, manufacturing of Sulphuric Acid, burning of Sulphur contained refuse, papermaking and natural events. Carbon Mono-xide is mainly caused due incomplete combustion of fuels and other carbon contained substances. Nitrogen Dioxide is caused due to moto-vehicle exhausts, high temperature stationary combustion atmospheric reaction etc.

He defines that six to eight cubic feet of air surrounding an individual can be a comforting presence. " If you spend a lot of time at a computer or in an easy chair watching TV, try to have a nice plant sitting near you, because the closer you are with the plant, the more it’s going to help you. Remember, the artificial poly-plants and flowers adding more pollution to your surroundings and causing deep impact on your health, " he suggests.

The growing bodies associated with the research on the subject offer yet more evidence that houseplants may be an effective means of improving the air quality in your home and the office. Wolverton found that plants absorb air-borne pollutants as part of their normal breathing process ( Carbon dioxide in Oxygen out) and transport them to their roots where microbes feed on and detoxify them. He measured the filtering capacity of specific plants by putting them into a sealed chamber with a succession of toxic chemicals, then measuring how much of each chemical remains at 12 hour interval. It was found that the most effective plants had a high transpiration rate —that is ,they emit more moisture into the environment.

A senior Professor in the Department of Jammu University said due to natural pumping action, plants pull air down to their roots and pump the moisture out. Supporting Wolverton’s theory he maintained, " It’s question of how well they do it and whether that’s enough to be an effective means of pollution control in a typical indoor environment." While one plant may clean the air in small confined space, getting those same results for the whole house require many more plants. But how many more, is not clear and it will certainly depend on the quality of air around the residential place or the office and the number of inmates, he opined.

In response to a question he said, " Tightly sealed buildings create conditions very similar to static lab tests in that there is very little movement of air. The more you have, the faster they will work. The plant pots should never be thought of a cure - all. If you have a building with serious indoor air pollution, even a large number of plants is not going to solve the problem completely. But it’s like a cat in your lap, a plant in your personal breathing zone." He totally opposed the unhealthy menance of keeping artificial plants and flowers in the residential places and the offices with the plea that it causes environmental related problems.