SWABI, June 1: A fire that broke out in forest near Tarbela dam’s power house was put out after 10 hours of hectic efforts, sources told Dawn on Friday.

They said that the fire broke out at 8.45pm on Thursday in the jungle near the switchyard and base workshop of the power house of Tarbela Dam. An official said that the fire was caused by a spark in an electricity transformer near the switchyard. “The
dry grass nearby caught fire which started spreading due to strong winds,” he said.

Mohammad Iqbal, chief engineer of Tarbela Dam and Ghazi Barotha, general manager Mohammad Umer and other officers supervised the efforts to control fire.

A security officer, who was present during the nightlong efforts, said: “It was a sleepless and difficult night for the entire staff of Tarbela dam, but we salute all of them for displ-aying a tremendous courage.”

Answering a question, the officer said that the fire covered an area of about two to three miles, turning the jungle into ashes. The fire-fighting operation continued all the night, he said.

The sources said that fire again started in the jungle on Friday morning, and it was completely put out at around 11am. Fire brigade engines from Abbottabad, Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate, Mardan, Haripur, Nowshera and Hasanabdal were also called to the site to extinguish the fire and save the power house switchyard.

The officials said that power supply had now been restored.

PROTEST: Local journalists on Friday staged a demonstration to protest against the cable operators for registering an FIR against two of their colleagues while they were covering a rally on May 18.

They blocked the Swabi-Topi road and later marched to the offices of district police officer.

Swabi Journalists’ Union president Ihsanul Haq led the protesters and demanded withdrawal of the FIR against journalists Azmat Ali and Fazal Khaliq, saying that they were performing duty and had nothing to do with damaging public or private property. —Correspondent