Mumbai Monorail update

Work on the Rs 2,460-crore monorail project is steaming ahead. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials said that work along most of the route—Jacobs Circle-Wadala-Chembur—will now begin as the traffic police have given the go ahead. “Permissions are needed from the traffic cops as work on the ground entails blocking off parts of the road and this in turn causes jams. So far, work had been in progress only along a 5-km route as the permissions had not been obtained for the rest of the track. Now, work will begin on 19 km of the track,’’ said an MMRDA official. Head of the transport planning division of the MMRDA, P R K Murthy, said the project is developing well and should be complete by its December 2010 deadline. “Unlike the Metro rail project, the monorail project is much smaller and its implementation will not mean large scale dislocation of people and structures,’ said joint project director of MMRDA, Dilip Kawathkar.” The monorail project aims to benefit the section of the populace that is not being served effectively by existing modes of transport, said Kawathkar. The monorail route will supplement the suburban rail and the new Metro rail network.

Somewhere in Kashmir....

J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah ordered the release of five top separatist leaders including the lone woman separatist woman leader Asiya Andrabi on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr. Asiya Andrabi, chief of Dhukhtaran-e-Millat, was imprisoned for creating law and order problem early this year. On Sunday, the Public Safety Act (PSA) against her was revoked on the instructions of Abdullah. Other separatists are Nayeem Ahmed Dar, Tariq Ahmed Dar, Mudassar Ali Rather, Tariq Ahmed Dar and Nayeem Dar, apart from Mohammad Nayeem Khan.

Somewhere in Chennai....

Dolls arranged for Kolu during the Navarathri festival at Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore

Somewhere on the LoC....

While elsewhere in the country stray dogs are considered a menace, in J&K they have become watchdogs for the Army against infiltrators.The Army is training stray dogs for help in detecting intruders and thus stop infiltration from across the border. The Line of Control (LoC) between Akhnoor and Sunderbani sectors is regularly used by infiltrators to cross fence. Though troops remains vigilant round-the-clock, there are some moments when fence remains attended, giving enough time to intruders to cross over. It is this gap that the Army hopes the dogs could fill. At least 25 infiltrators have been killed by security forces in August during encounters along LoC. Sources say most of these infiltrators are from terrorist outfits like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Al Badr and LeT. Col N K Airy, spokesperson of the Army’s 10 division, says: ‘‘We decided to the train the mongrels following shortage of pedigree dogs. They are smart and useful in this terrain.’’ Col Airy says the strays can recognise troops and civilians and starts barking whenever they observe any movement of strangers near the fence. ‘‘They cannot be identified by the infiltrators.’’ It is easy to train these dogs, which do not need special diet like the breeds. ‘‘They learn quickly with little training,’’ says Col Airy. The international border from Jammu to Chamb is guarded by the BSF. The LoC is guarded by the 10 division of the Army. The area is difficult to guard because of the terrain and the Chenab river that flow into Pakistan. ‘‘We have all the best possible means to stop the infiltration but these local dogs have emerged as an amazing security tool for us,’’ says a senior army officer. The Army has sophisticated gadgets like sensors, thermal imagers and advanced infantry weapons, but infiltrators find gaps to sneak in. Recently soldiers at Akhnoor sector found folded ladders near the high fence. On another occasion, troops detected a 50-metre long tunnel during a search at Chapriyal in the sector.

Kaziranga horror

Poachers gunned down an elephant and chopped off its tusks and trunk in Karbi Anglong district near the Kaziranga National Park. Forest officials found the carcass of the jumbo, with the mark of a bullet wound on its head, on Saturday. According to sources, the elephant might have been killed about three days ago. A machete, of the kind used by tribal groups, was found in the area between Panbari Reserve Forest near Kaziranga and Dalamara forest range. Elephants often use Panbari as a corridor to move between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong. ‘‘The injury marks show that a rifle was used to kill the jumbo. And, in all probability, the poachers used the machete to cut off its trunk. They have killed the elephant in a gruesome manner,’’ said Garga Mohan Das, project officer of WWF-India’s Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape Conservation Programme.
A tiger was found dead outside the Kohra forest range of Kaziranga on Saturday, sparking suspicions of revenge killing by angry residents of adjoining villages. With this, the death toll of big cats in the national park has risen to three this year. The carcass was spotted beyond the park boundary, near an upcoming resort in the Mohpara area. The tiger was aged between seven and eight years. Forest officials ruled out a poaching bid, for the carcass had not been mutilated and no organs were missing.

Rosh Hashanah

Jews gather at the Gate of Heaven Synagogue in Thane yesterday to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year

Eid Mubarak

Eid is being celebrated across India today.