Several shops gutted in Ukhral fire incident

Ramban, Jan 21: Two four-storey buildings comprising of 10 shops and few rooms were gutted in a fire incident at Ukhral market of Ramban district last night.

Officials said property worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed.

This morning the affected people and others assembled near Bus Stand Ukhral and held a protest demonstration. They demanded sanctioning and setting up of fire services stations in the area.

They said fire tenders from Banihal and Ramban, which are 30 to 35 kms away, arrived late, and it took one hour for fire tenders to reach the tehsil headquarters Ukhral. Till then two double-storey buildings were destroyed.

As per police sources, the fire broke out in the double-storey building of Beer Singh and Balwan Singh in the main market of Tehsil headquarters Ukhral.

On getting information, initially, a police team rushed to the spot and started an operation to douse off the flames with the help of locals.

Later Fire tenders also reached the spot and assisted in the firefighting operation.

Assistant Director of Fire and Emergency Department, Ramban Sahil Bandral said that three fire tenders were sent to Ukhral to douse off the fire. He said after hectic efforts, the fire was brought under control but till then two-storey buildings comprising 10 shops including three food stores were destroyed.

No injury or casualty has been reported in the incident, while the exact loss could not be ascertained yet. They said the cause of the fire was allegedly an electric short circuit however, to ascertain the actual cause Ramsu Police are on the job. He said recommendations have been sent to higher-ups of the department for setting up a fire station in Ukhral.

The locals alleged that the fire tender developed some mechanical snag and reached the area late due to which property worth crores of rupees was destroyed. Later Naib Tehsildar Ukhral Nasir Javid pacified the people by assuring them that the matter would be brought to the notice of higher authorities.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Ramban Baseer Ul Haq Choudary in response to public demand ordered a fire tender to be stationed at Ukhral and Khari to ensure rapid response to future incidents.

Later Chairperson DDC Ramban, Shamshada Shan also visited Ukhral and expressed sympathies with affected shopkeepers. She demanded that the government provide a special relief package to affected people.