Amid allegations of “match fixing” between the ruling NC and opposition BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in J&K, CM Omar Abdullah has dismissed claims of a tacit understanding between the two parties. “There was no understanding with BJP. This attempt of orchestrating a death by thousand cuts is incorrect,” Omar said. In RS polls on four vacant seats, NC managed to bag three. The fourth seat went to BJP’s Sat Sharma. “If NC had intended to align with BJP, we could have told them not to field candidates for two seats, and I would have withdrawn my fourth candidate and then elections wouldn’t be necessary,” he said.
Chrysanthemum garden tourists’ new attraction
The Bagh-e-Gul-e-Dawood (Chrysanthemum theme garden) at the Botanical Garden in Srinagar is a new attraction for tourists this autumn. Developed at a cost of Rs 1.8 crore, the theme garden spans over 100 kanals and is envisioned as a major autumn attraction in Kashmir. With its vibrant blooms in shades of yellow, red, pink, and purple, the garden promises to infuse new colour and charm into the Valley’s tourism calendar during the autumn months. The garden has over 60 varieties of chrysanthemums and about 1,00,000 chrysanthemum plants have been planted in the garden. It was thrown open for visitors on October 25.
76K agri land, 19K homes damaged in floods
The floods and unseasonal rain have wreaked havoc across J&K this year, damaging crops on nearly 76,000 hectares of farmland, in addition to affecting about 19,000 residential houses. According to government data, in the Jammu region which was the worst hit, 17,247 houses were affected: 1,591 were fully damaged, 4,326 severely damaged. In Kashmir, there were 12 houses were fully damaged, 44 severely damaged and 845 partially damaged due to the floods. Additionally, 3,540 cattle sheds were damaged in Jammu region and 79 in Kashmir. The floods had claimed 151 in Jammu region and one in the valley.
Fayaz Wani
Our correspondent in Jammu and Kashmir
fayazwani123@gmail.com
