MANSEHRA: A local court has issued a stay order suspending the auction of shops in a plaza recently built by the tehsil municipal administration here.

Judicial magistrate Haris Nisar issued the order on the petition of trader Nisar Ahmad, who said the shops being auctioned by the TMA had already been rented out to him and others.

The judge summoned the tehsil municipal administration’s relevant officials, and tehsil municipal officers (regulation and infrastructure), the regional municipal officer of Hazara division and the provincial local government secretary to appear before him on April 27 to respond to the petition. The petitioner and other traders told reporters that the TMA had built a multi-storey commercial centre Badra Road after pulling down a slaughterhouse, where they already were tenants.

“We have an agreement with the TMA that when it will build a new commercial centre here, first the shops will be allotted to those who have already rented shops there. However, the TMA instead of following the agreement has scheduled shops auction,” he said.

RESCUE SERVICE: The Rescue 1122 launched its regular and anti-Covid-19 services here on Tuesday.

Petitioner insists shops have already been rented out

“Now, the citizens can approach us on helpline 122 round the clock in case of any emergency,” district emergency officer Hafeezur Rehman told a presser here.

Mr Rehman said the Rescue 122 was ready to deal with any emergency.

He said his department was mapping the city and its outskirts for effective service delivery. “Our 70 trained personnel with two ambulances, fire tenders and a rescue vehicle are ready to respond to any emergency,” he said.

The official said the department’s ambulances and fire tenders were used for shifting Covid-19 patients from home to hospitals and even to cemetery.

KILLED: A girl was killed and five people suffered critical injures when a passenger jeep plunged into a deep ravine in Shawal Mazullah area of Balakot tehsil on Tuesday.

The accident occurred as the driver lost control of the jeep bound for Shawal Mazullah area from Munchora area while negotiating a sharp turn.

The residents shifted the injured to Balakot hospital, where the doctors pronounced, Sajida, 4, dead.

The injured were referred to the Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad, due to critical condition.

Meanwhile, a military soldier, Naik Adil Shahzad, who lost life fighting terrorists, was laid to rest in his ancestral village, Karar, here on Tuesday.

A Pakistan Army contingent presented a salute and fired shots in the air to pay homage to the fallen soldier.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2020