PAMPORE: A residential house and a shop were gutted in a major fire that broke out in the Saffron town Pampore area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
A two-story residential house and mobile shop of Ghulam Qadir Bhat, son Ghulam Hassan, resident of Frestabal Pampore were completely damaged in the fire that broke out on early Sunday morning due to a short circuit and property worth lakhs was destroyed in the incident.
The family members alleged that a power line that was attached to the window of their house caused the fire, “We have repeatedly requested the power department for its relocation, but they did not act. We have lost everything because of this official apathy,” a family member said, adding that they urge the government to provide them financial help for the reconstruction of the house.
The family members said that some locals noticed the fire at around 4:40 am on Sunday morning and informed them.
The eyewitness told Kashmir Reader the firefighters from fire and emergency services Pampore immediately arrived on the spot, doused the flames, and controlled it from spreading to the adjoining houses.
An official, however, told Kashmir Reader that the wrongly parked vehicles and construction material on the road leading to the house delayed the fire fighting operations, ” We appeal to the people not to park their vehicles on roads as it hinders such emergency operations. We lost valuable time due to these wrongly parked vehicles and somehow managed to reach there on time and control the fire from spreading,” Abdul Hai, Incaharge fire station Pampore told Kashmir Reader.
The fire also gutted a mobile shop that was on the first floor of the house and the family suffered huge losses in the incident, “Both shop and house have been reduced to ashes. The family is poor and has somehow constructed this house.
Tehsildar Pampore Ishtiyaq Mohi-ud-Din along with Naib Tehsildar and Revenue Official Mir Murawat Hussain visited the spot to assess the damage caused by the massive blaze and provided immediate help to the distraught family, “We provided relief items like rice, blankets, clothes, and some cash from our office,” Tehsildar Pampore Ishtiyaq Mohi-ud-Din told Kashmir Reader, adding that he has taken up the matter with Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, Baseer-Ul-Haq Chaudhary.
“The Deputy Commissioner Pulwama has assured that the affected family will be compensated under SDRF and Red Cross,” he said.

BILAL HABIB