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Heatstroke kills JUI activist in Dir power protest

By Our Correspondent 2017-06-07
TIMERGARA: A JUI-F activist died due to heatstroke during a protest demonstration against power outages in Talash here on Tuesday.

The protesters, including women, blocked the Timergara-Chakdara road against the Pesco.

Abbas Khan, former president of Talash Dushl(hel Qaumi Islahi Jirga and an activist of JUI-F, who addressed the protesters, fainted and was taken to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. The doctors said he died due to heatstroke.

Dozens of women for the first time came out of their houses blocked the road in Talash Bazaar, which caused huge traffic jam for hours. The protesters dispersed peacefully after the Assistant Commissioner Timregara Ubaidullah Khattak held talks with them.

Also in the day, residents of Rabat led by PTI, Lower Dir joint secretary Syed Alam Shah took out a protest procession on Tuesday and blocked the Timergara-Chitral road for some time against low voltage of electricity and power outages.

The protesters chanted slogans against the federal government and Pesco for their failure to ensure smooth power supply.

Addressing the rally, the PTI leader alleged that besides excessive power outages, the locals were also facing low voltage.

He said residents of Rabat and Khall had been facing acute shortage of drinking water at homes and mosques for last two weeks. He said the PTI local leadership had held a meeting with the district administration and Pesco high ups in this regard, but to no avail. The protesters threatened to come on roads again if the outageswere not done away with.

FOREST FIRE: A ferocious fire that erupted in Osakai forest was partially brought under control by local volunteers and owners on Tuesday.

Locals told this correspondent that the fire engulfed decades`old pine trees,spreadingover about two kilometres. They made announcements on mosque loudspeakers, asking youth and volunteers to reach the spot, after the fire erupted. The people made hectic efforts and were able to control the flame to some extent onTuesday.

The fire erupted in a dense forest of Osalcai having no road access and locals reached there on foot, Attaullah, a local, told this correspondent. He said the local volunteers faced much difficulty in extinguishing the fire because the affected area lied at a far off mountain where there was no water source.

The forest department and district administration had been informed well on time but they did nothing to put out the fire, the residents complained.