The anti-encroachment drive by Jammu and Kashmir administration intensified on Saturday as the land illegally occupied by 'influential persons' was retrieved at many places in the valley, officials said.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation has on anvil plans to refurbish the corporation in a big way and is planning to use the experiences of Pune Municipal Corporation in this regard.
The voter turnout in the first three phases of the civic polls in the valley has been low.
Aijaz Hussain won the Khonmoh-II District Development Council seat in Srinagar, while Aijaz Ahmad Khan gave the party more reason to cheer by winning the Tulail seat in Bandipora district.
The SMC had initially planned to poison the one lakh stray dogs in Srinagar due to the lack of resources to carry out sterilisation. However, after strong protests and threats of court action from animal rights activists, the municipal body has decided to go ahead with sterilisation.
Ghulam Nabi Wani, a municipal councilor from the National Conference, was shot dead by militants early on Wednesday morning at Khanyar in Srinagar. The police said that Wani, who represented the NC in the Srinagar municipal corporation, was shot while he was leaving a local mosque after the morning prayers. The unidentified militants came up to him and fired a volley of bullets from their automatic weapons. Over two dozen municipal councilors have been killed recently.
The process of removing garbage from the sheds was stopped when residents of Eidgah and the adjoining areas took to the streets last week protesting against the dumping of waste at Saidapora dumping grounds.
The party has bagged 34 seats so far, an official spokesman said in Srinagar on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday appreciated Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for taking up the broom and cleaning a street in Srinagar, saying it was a "wonderful effort" which will strengthen the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign.
The 65-year-old man hailed from the Hyderpora area of Srinagar, while the two minors -- seven years old and eight months old -- who tested positive for the coronavirus are also from the city.
While the BJP emerged as the single largest party in 12 municipal bodies, it has majority in five of these bodies.
The cases reported on Wednesday include a couple and their two-year-old daughter in Rajasthan who had recently returned from Italy. The patients belong to Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu and had returned from Italy on March 8.
The first phase of the polls in the Kashmir Valley saw 8.3 per cent turnout on October 8 while only 3.4 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the second phase held two days later.
As flood waters start to recede in Srinagar, the region is faced with yet another challenge -- threat of an epidemic outbreak.
19 wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, having an electorate of 1.78 lakh, witnessed a turnout of just 2.3 per cent, officials said.
As the rescue operations in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir are tapering off and the victims are being attended to in scores of relief camps, most of which have been set up by the locals, fear of an epidemic still looms in the affected areas.
A total of 3,372 nominations have been filed for 1,145 wards. The next phases take place on 10th, 13th and 16th October.
It will take months if not years before flood-ravaged Srinagar is restored to its pristine glory.
Once famous for its gardens and flowers, a still submerged Srinagar city now presents a grim and nauseating picture of the destruction caused by floods.
The flood-ravaged Srinagar city has been divided into three zones to expedite the cleaning up and sanitation operations, an official spokesman said on Tuesday.
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