Traffic woes

Sir,

Jammu city is reeling under a heavy onslaught of the explosion of automobiles. A couple of years ago we witnessed a two wheeler explosion. But now everybody seems to invade roads with his/her car. The Sheer number of cars has increased so much that one cannot believe his eyes.

Everywhere there are cars, two wheelers and other vehicles. The result is for all of us to see. All roads in the city are choked. Poor roads must be wondering what has befallen them. But overall it is good to see that economic position of people is increasing. They are now assuredly graduating from cycle to two wheelers and then to four wheelers. I mean cars. A car is an ultimate dream of middle class people. There is no dispute with that. Everybody has dreams and he should fulfill them. But with so many cars around there is very little road space for them.

The chief reason that I have myself observed is that roads are not divided wherever there is a possibility. To put an example, the road stretch from New Plot to Janipur Chowk can be easily divided with two lanes. Otherwise we see jams occur on this road everyday. The situation is worse in the morning and evening hours. It takes full one hour to travel half a kilometer on this road. The second reason is that even though we graduate to card but our senses especially civil sense has not matured. In order to move ahead we ourtake and thus create two or three lines. With no space ahead to move the traffic comes to a grinding halt. Thus one of the first things that traffic authorities should do is to divide every road offcourse wherever possible into two lanes. It will stop people from overtaking. A traffic moving in lanes can greatly reduce woes of the people. But one thing has to be kept in mind. We have to develop traffic sense otherwise a time will come when our vehicles will have to be parked at home for want to road space.

Yours etc...
Neter Prakash
Link Road
Jammu

Deforestation

Sir,

Forests are one of the most important natural resource. Forests are like natural lungs for the environment. They provide much needed oxygen to the different forms of life upon the earth. Side by side they also stop soil from getting washed away due to rains. It is sad that despite these all important contributions forests are mercilessly cut down to reclaim the land for other use.

The pressure on forests is so great that it is now a common sight to see vast stretches of forest land denuded of great forests that once stood there. Our State was known for the thick forests all over the country. When in 1853 railway lines were laid, sleepers in lakhs were provided by the forests of the State. One of the great forested areas of our State is Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar. Due to the increase in demand for wood and timber these forests have been overexploited. The nexus between some forest officials, contractors as well as some police officers as reputed many times in this paper has destroyed hundreds of the areas of forests. Smuggling of timber and illegal felling of trees in violation of the spirit of conservation has resulted in such a situation that forests have now become more or less extinct. In addition to it we do not seem to have followed a vigorous afforestation policy. The forest Department needs to plant different trees in fairly large numbers and ensure that they survive so that we leave some forests for our children.

Yours etc...
Jai Prakash
Rehari Colony
Jammu

Gloomy educational scenario

Sir,

Some days back, the report published by UNESCO, ranked India as 105th nation in terms of eradicating illiteracy compared to 100th nation in 2005. It is a great cause for concern as the nation spends too much on the EFA (Education for all) mission, though the outcome is quite low as expected.

However the report is all praise that some achievement has been made since the implementation of SSA in 2000 as it has laid emphasis on ''Girl Education'' and education of the physically challenged children, but the mission is yet to achieve hundred percent success due to the loopholes in the monitoring of this ambitions project as the far flung areas are still away from its ambit. Still child labour is in vogue in the backward pockets of the country as the actual literacy figure is still hazy.

Our State is no exception to the rule. The main reason is that there are many bottlenecks in the State Educational system. The DIET's and SIE's, the basic agencies of imparting quality education are in doldrums. There institutions should be headed by well reputed educationists, having at least master's degree in education. Otherwise is just like putting a square peg in a round hole.

Unless the education Deptt. restructures these prestigious institutions and adjusts the qualified and competent staff well versed in teaching pedagogy, no sea change can take place in quality education.

Quality education means to enhance the competence level of learners. This can only happen when there are competent and research oriented staff in teacher Training Institutions so that they can train the field staff and they can in turn improve the achievement and performance level of children under their trusts.

Unless the DIET's are revamped and competent teachers are prepared through in service training programmes, the dream of quality education shall remain a dream only.

Yours etc..
K L Dhar
Durga Nagar
Enclave, Jammu