awareness camp at town hall

Cancer society of kashmir has organised the public awareness programme on the eve of WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY in collabration with DEGREE COLLEGE PAMPORE AND FALLAH BEHBOOD COMMITTEE SAFFRON TOWN PAMPORE.In which students of GDC PAMPORE,doctors and various other FAMOUS PERSONALITIES OF PAMPORE and CANCER SOCIETY OF KASHMIR provided information and awareness about the illeffectsand hazards of smoking.

PAMPORE: Glowing tributes to MP G.N Ratanpuri from the people of Pampore. The people of Pampore town paysa lot of thankfulness to the Member Parliament (MP) Jenab Gulam Nabi Ratanpuri when the delegation meets them at their Pulwama residence headed by MirMurawat Hussain chairman of Fallah Behbood Committee saffrontown Pampore,and Haji ghulam mohd sheikh(legal advisor jaybee agro industries pvt.ltd, Idar-e- Auqaf IslamiaTrust Pampore, Traders Federation pampore, Nundreshi Sumo Association, Mini Bus Association, FBC Shar Shali Pampore and many others headed by these two famous personalities of Pampore at first presented gift of laminated Saffron bouquet to Member Parliament G.N Ratanpuri and thenrepresented the memorandum of negligences and requirements fordevelopment of saffron town pampore. During the disscusion various issues and matters were discussed about ancestrol cash crop saffron, drainage systems and many others. Meanwhile Mr. Ratanpuri first encouraged the people of pampore that they are fighting fortheir own rights and for the welfare of their native town, Mr Ratanpuri revert to memorandum first allocated funds to the Cancer patient residing from the same area sanctioned the whole amount for full treatment. It is a very big and appreciable step of Mr Ratanipuri who really deserves award for that and is really appreciable activity that brings a lot of hapiness among the people of pampore. in addition to this, Ratnipuri also sanctioned Rs 7.5 laks for reconstruction and maintenance of Drangbal graveyard and also donated Rs 7.5 laks to sub district hospital Pampore for Amblance services. Ratnipuri also sanctioned Rs 8.5 laks for maintenance of Eidgah Shar Shali Pampore and also allocated the park near Wahab Khar sahib Astan famously knownas Wahab sahib from its parliament funds for the development of pampore. Ratnipuri continues its progressive steps he sanctions a new constructive road from government girls higher secondary Namlabal to grid station 220 Kv. In addition to this he also sanctions and allocated various funds from his allocated parliamentary account to various little work like drainage system, street lights and many other things. With these approvals and sanctions its gives pleasure to all of the federations that were present in the meeting at their Pulwama residence. The people ofPampore paid a lot of tributes to Mr. Ratnipuri for its developmentary activities and prays for their succesive upgradation. All of the federations and committiees especially FBC Pampore pays a lot of thankfullness for their good and benficial support for the development of our golden bowl.

death and attempt to murder of our heritage and ancestrol cash crop saffron

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY SHEIKH JALEEL {md/ceo of jaybee agro industries pvt.ltd/executive member of fallah behbood committee saffron town Pampore}

 Death and attempt to murder of our heritage and ancestral cash crop saffron:

Pampore:: Pampore is well know as "Land of Gold (Saffron)". The renowed town is full of historical as well as archeological sites.

Pampore town is famous all over the world for the saffron cultivation which is mainly grown in the Karewa lands of Pampore, and its adjacent areas like chandhara,wuyan,sona krend,and many others.

Kashmiri saffron is said to be the best in the world, a product of the ideal light, climate and soil conditions. It has an unmistakable fragrance and a distinct and unique deep red orange/gold colour together with a full rich flavour. The crocus flower is a lovely shade of pastel purple which is harvested in a two week period in early November. According to Greek mythology, handsome mortal Crocos fell in love with the beautiful nymph Smilax. But alas, his favors were rebuffed by Smilax, and he was turned into a beautiful purple crocus flower.The word saffron derives from the Arab word zafaran, meaning yellow, and it was mentioned as far back as 1500 b.c. in many classical writings, as well as in the Bible. Further derivations come from the Old French safran, Medieval Latin safranum, and Middle English safroun.Saffron is harvested from the fall-flowering plantCrocus sativus, a member of the Iris family. It is native to Asia Minor, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years to be used in medicines, perfumes, dyes, and as a wonderful flavoring for foods and beverages.The red-gold threads were also highly prized by pharoahs and kings, yet large amounts produce deathly narcotic effects.Saffron has been used medicinally to reduce fevers, cramps and enlarged livers, and to calm nerves. It has also been used externally to for bruises, rheumatism, and neuralgia. (Warning! Do not use medicinally without consulting your physician.) Saffron is one of the few things that truly is worth its weight in gold. This product of the crocus flower adds not only pungent and aromatic flavor to foods, but also a beautiful golden color. It is native to Asia Minor, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years to be used in medicines, perfumes, dyes, and as a wonderful flavoring for foods and beverages. The history of saffron cultivation reaches back more than 3,000 years.The wild precursor of domesticated saffron crocus was Crocus cartwrightianus. Human cultivators bred wild specimens by selecting for unusually long stigmas. Thus, a sterile mutant form of C. cartwrightianus, C. sativus, emerged in late Bronze Age Crete.Saffron is the most precious and most expensive spice in the world. Therefore, having any saffron is better than having no saffron.but now a days it seems the death of our hereditary cash crop saffron due to various factors:

1. One distinct geographical area in Kashmir famous for its production of saffron is the Pampore-green belt. It has been witnessing a highly land grabbing,digging of karewas.using modern techniques to transfer its soil form one place to another from the various areas like wuyan,tulbagh,chandhara and now as according to the various researchs that land is not now fertile and comfortable for its cultivation.

2. one of the prime reasons is the industrial units which have come up in the area since 1982. The smoke and dust particles exuding from these factories stagnate in the local atmosphere for a longer time because the area is surrounded by high mountains fromtwo sides in the east and north. Since the normal wind in Kashmir Valley blows from west to east,ActionAid’s investigations in the area haverevealed that the smoke remains trapped for alonger time, increasing the temperature in its lower atmosphere because of larger amounts of warmer gases present in the air. The absence of any tree cover over the surrounding mountains compounds the problem, the presence of which could have offset the excess carbon content in the air.Although normally in hotter regions aerosols are believed to have a cooling effect on the lower environment, in the case of a cold region like Kashmir, investigations have shown.

3. The rapid decrease of land available for saffron production prompted the state government to pass a law banning the sale of or use of saffron land for any other purposes. But despite passing the law to protect the saffron land, the state government recently acquired nearly 140 acres of saffron land to be used for the construction of a paramilitary central reserve police force.

4. With growing urbanization in Pampore belt of Pulwama district in South Kashmir the Saffron industry is facing grave threat in the state as Government has failed to put standing laws into practice to stop constructions on the saffron land. Recently mr.Shailender Kumar Director DAC Government of India who visited Saffron belt in Pampore area and issued on spot directions to state authorities for formal handing over and taking over of land for Saffron park and Quality Testing lab at Dussu and same be furnished to National Horticulture Board in order to enable the construction work on park and lab. During the deliberations it was also proposed that 72 tube wells should be taken up for construction to provide timely irrigation facilities to the saffron. There has however been cent percent achievement in vermin compost units and in demonstration plots during 2011. The Mission could revolutionize the saffron industry provided the conversion of the land is stopped by Government. The much talked about National Saffron Mission is likely to face the rough weather in this belt in case the rapid urbanization is not contained and serious steps are not taken by the Government in this regard.no doubt NATIONAL SAFFRON MISSION helped a lot to the people but not even a single awareness camp is not being organized to aware the people about its main aims that is to grow the saffron more organically.Villagers in Pampore allege that authorities have failed to take the necessary steps to promote saffron cultivation and have had a hand in decreasing the amount of land available to grow saffron – a move that has hindered the local economy. This, combined with the drought-like conditions of the last few years has forced many growers to sell or abandon their land. From 7000 hectares in Pampore tehsil , the land under saffron cultivation has reduced to 3600 hectares.While before few decades one hectare of land would yield around 10 kilograms of saffron, at present only around two kilograms per hectare are produced.Officially, Kashmir was producing around 40 tonnes of but now it has come down to around 12 tonnes.

5. Another factor is the hpcl plant and the gas turbines in Pampore that releases nitrogeneous effects and pollutes our pious land which also leads us to decline in the yielding of saffron.

Many other causes which leads to destruction of our ancestral cash crop saffron is the fraudsters and fake dealers in the market which are not being registered by the govt.of jammu and Kashmir.we are not against the EXIM policies of govt that Iranian saffron should be totally banned to import in Kashmir but the buyer seller meetings,exhibitions should be organised so that it could give the promotion to our ancestral industry.

It is not opposition to the government of india but it is a request to safeguard our heritage because 90% of the people of Pampore earn their livelihood with this God gift saffron.

             SAVE AND SAFEGUARD THE ECONOMY OF PEACEFUL TOWN OF KASHMIR.