SHANGLA: Four houses and a shop were gutted in Kuz area of Alpuri here on Tuesday.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Rasool Khan told reporters that the fire erupted in a room of one of the houses due to electric short-circuit, which engulfed the nearby houses and a shop.

He said a rescue team put out the blaze. He said goods and furniture in the houses and shop were reduced to ashes.

The rescue spokesperson said fire was rapidly spreading to nearby houses, but the timely action by the rescuers saved more houses from being destroyed.

Meanwhile, residents of Chichlo and Dunai areas staged a protest demonstration outside the public health engineering department’s office in Alpuri, demanding action over illegal connections taken from the main line supplying water to their areas.

Elders Mutawakil Khan, Nisar Ahmad and Jehan Mulk led the protest. Later, they held negotiations with the department’s officials, who assured them that a drive would be launched from Thursday against the illegal connections.

The protesters said they had been facing water shortage since the illegal connections were taken from the main supply line.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2021