ISLAMABAD, Apr 17 (Agencies): Toxic gases Tuesday hampered the search for 138 people buried by an avalanche at a high-altitude Pakistan army camp, as teams from the United States and Norway arrived at the site to help operations. A huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in disputed Kashmir more than a week ago, smothering an area of one square kilometre (a third of a square mile).

A low-intensity earthquake measuring 4.1 on Richter Scale shook some parts of Jammu and Kashmir during the wee hours of this morning. "An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 occurred at 2:20 AM with its epicentre at India-China border in Ladakh region," a disaster management cell official said here.

The epicentre was located 209 km east of Leh town near the border between Ladakh and Xinjiang region of China. The tremor, however, was not felt in the Kashmir Valley, the official added. There were no reports of any casualties, he said.

Under the garb of carrying out renovation work of the historical Pather Masjid by Irrigation and Flood Control Department on the banks of river Jhelum, enchorachment of the river has allegedly occurred.

As per the residents of the area, and some local NGOs the construction work which has been going on , has resulted in the shrinking of Jhelum river by eight feet whereas its depth has receded by 70 feet.

SRINAGAR, Dec 4 : Decades long illegal extraction by the people has posed a threat to Lidder rivulet. Lidder,is known not only for its crystal clear waters but for the quality trout present in it. But the decades long illegal extraction of sand and boulders from it is not only polluting its waters but damaging the trout culture also.

Farmers in Jammu and Kashmir have expressed their joy over the moderate to heavy snowfall in the valley, saying it will provide the required impetus to agriculture in the state. The valley already has limited water resources for agricultural activities, and most of the time the channels
remain dry.

JAMMU, NOV 24: The minister for revenue, relief and rehabilitation, Raman Bhalla, today dedicated 5000 gallon discharge capacity deep drill tube well to the inhabitants of Guru Arjun Dev Singh Nagar (Kashmiri Basti) in Lower Belicharana. The construction work of tube well including laying of water supply pipes have been completed at a cost of Rs. 1.18 crore under Water Supply Scheme Raipur Satwari.

SRINAGAR, Nov 23: With winter already set in, a record number of more than eight lakh migratory birds have arrived in various wet lands of Kashmir valley. Wild life warden Wetlands Kashmir, Rouf Zargar told Kashmir Times that more than six lakh migratory birds from Siberia, China and Central Asia besides Indian sub-continent have presently arrived to add more colour to Kashmir's wetlands and fresh water lakes.

SRINAGAR, Nov 22: As much as 2319 hectares land has been covered by planting 16.02 lakh saplings, including local conifers in Jammu region under flagship forest conservation programme, Compensatory Aforestaion Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) during the current year.
The information was given at a meeting chaired by the Minister for Forest and Environment, Mian Altaf Ahmed, convened to review the physical and financial achievements registered under the scheme in Jammu region. The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, Shantmanu, Principal

SRINAFAR, Nov 22: State government is intending to take up the matter with union government after National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) did not respond to November 12 deadline set up to get fresh license for water usage in their power projects.
The notices were served by irrigation department to NHPC a month back to get fresh water usage licenses for using water in Uri-I, 480 MWs, Dulhasti, 390 MWs, Salal 690 MWs and Sewa-II 120 MWs. But those were ignored by NHPC.

KUPWARA, Nov 18: The case detection rate of different types of tuberculosis (TB) has increased manifold over past 10 years in Kupwara district, witnessing as many as 30 deaths in the past years. Official sources reveal that in comparison to 430 patients suffering from different forms of TB in year 2004, some 600 patients were found to be suffering from different types of the disease till September this year with eight deaths most probably caused due to most deadly form of TB.