SHANGLA: Members of the opposition parties in the Alpuri tehsil council walked out of the session on Saturday, protesting against the officials of various departments for not attending the council meetings.

The tehsil council session was chaired by convener Mohammad Alam and attended by members, including the village council chairmen. Council chairman Waqar Ahmad Khan was also present.

Ali Bhash Khan, the opposition leader in the council, said there was no need to hold the sessions if departments’ heads did not bother to participate. “We come here to raise our village councils’ issues before the department heads, but they don’t bother to participate in the sessions,” he deplored.

He said the tehsil municipal officer had declared that the civic body had blacklisted a contractor, who failed to complete schemes, but despite that he was given more schemes.

Javid Khan, chairman Damorai village council, regretted that four months had gone by since the flash floods hit his village council, but still most link roads were blocked by landslides.

Speaking on the occasion, tehsil council chairman, Waqar Ahmad Khan said he would issue notices to heads of departments to ensure their attendance in council sessions at all costs.

He also directed the TMA to present its progress report regarding the roads’ clearance. He ordered the TMA authorities to expedite work on the ongoing development schemes and submit the progress report to him.

He assured the opposition members that their issues would be addressed on priority.

HOUSE GUTTED: A fire caused by an electricity short-circuit gutted a two-storey house in Kareen Dara area of Martung tehsil here on Saturday. However, the family survived.

Martung police station SHO Mohammad Hussain told Dawn that the fire broke out in one of the rooms and engulfed the entire house within no time. He said the local people rushed to the scene and took the family to safety. He said the police also reached the spot and with the help of locals managed to put the fire, preventing it from engulfing the adjacent houses. He said 70 per cent of the house was gutted, reducing goods to ashes.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2022