— Photo: AP

DOING HIS BIT: A boy carries rusk, part of a consignment of relief, for the Uri earthquake victims, in Jammu on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the telephone link from the State to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was restored soon.

The Chief Minister, who spoke to Dr. Singh on the phone, also urged him to pursue with Pakistan his suggestion of joint quake relief operations. He said the Prime Minister was agreeable to the suggestion of providing relief to the affected people across the LoC as it was easier and less time consuming to reach out to the affected areas from this side than from Pakistan. Mr. Sayeed said the first instalment of cash relief for rebuilding their houses would be disbursed from Wednesday.

In Srinagar, Mr. Sayeed also appealed to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to positively respond to the Indian suggestion. He said humanitarian assistance would go well with the current atmosphere of amity and friendship.

"The devastation caused by the October 8 earthquake is a grave human tragedy and everybody should rise above political considerations in reaching out to the affected people on either side of the LoC," he said. "The baggage of the past should neither prevent offer of humanitarian assistance nor its acceptance."

The former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik, National Front chief Naeem Khan and Democratic Liberation Party chief Hashim Qureshi have spoken with one voice on restoring the phone link.

Dr. Abdullah, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said the Telecommunications Ministry had no problem withdrawing the restrictions on making telephone calls to Pakistan and PoK but "it is the Home Ministry which has reservations on security grounds."

Mehbooba Mufti said "we should adopt a policy which can bring the people together that too at this time of crisis."

CRPF adopts village

Meanwhile, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has undertaken rescue and relief measures in Uri, Tangdhar and other remote areas near the LoC. Besides the deployment of five companies, two special teams have been sent to the quake-hit areas.

The CRPF has adopted Kamalkote in Baramulla district, which has suffered large-scale devastation, for rehabilitation. Of the 163 houses in the village, 122 were fully damaged.

Fiftyfive persons died out of a population of 1,680 and 700 have been injured, while 95 are still missing.

The CRPF has provided 165 temporary shelters to those rendered homeless.

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