Briefs

Briefs

Fire breaks out in Lowari Tunnel residential quarter

By our correspondent

DIR: Five rooms were gutted as a fire broke out in a residential quarter near the Lowari Tunnel, official sources said on Wednesday. The sources said the fire broke out in one of the rooms due to short-circuiting near the tunnel and spread in a jiffy. The sources said that security forces, Dir Levies and Tunnel staff started the rescue work and extinguished the fire. Three rooms of security forces and two rooms for the construction company's contractor and workers were destroyed. No casualty was reported in the incident. However, goods worth millions of rupees were burnt.       

Citizens without potable water

By our correspondent

NAWABSHAH: Half a million citizens of Nawabshah are deprived of potable water as the source canal Gajrah Wah is closed for the past 50 days due to the annual closure that ended on February 10, 2017. The people are forced to use subsoil water for drinking and cooking purposes, which is causing stomach problem and spreading hepatitis. Reportedly, a large number of affected people have approached the Peoples Medical Hospital and private clinics for treatment of diarrhoea. Earlier, the canal was closed on January 6, 2017, for the annual desilting process. However, no water was released till the filing of this report. The closure of canal has caused serious shortage of potable water for the people of Nawabshah, Buchehry, Nawaz Dahri, Shahdadpur, Sarhari and other towns. Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Faiz advised the people to boil water before using it in order to avoid diseases like typhoid, diarrhoea and hepatitis.

BARA: An official launched polio awareness campaign in Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency on Wednesday. Speaking at a public gathering in Akakhel, Hazrat Ali Afridi, an official of the anti-polio campaign in Khyber Agency, said the polio was a crippling disease and had become a major issue in the country. "Due to routine campaigns the crippling disease has been brought under control. This was done because of the polio drops administered to children below five years for the last two years," he said. The official said the parents should cooperate with the polio teams to eradicate the virus from the Khyber Agency.