Five shops gutted

Patancheru: Four fruit shops and a pan shop on footpath along the national highway in the 113th division caught fire on Wednesday. The vendors had set up shops in connection with Ramzan and ignored the caution of fire services department to take precautions, especially in this hot summer season. The fire broke out around 10 am after waste material on the premises of a government hospital caught fire which spread fast.

Five shops were totally lost in the blaze. The police tried to deploy a water tanker to put out the flames. Later fire services personnel doused the fire. Small traders who invested lakhs in setting up shops for the Ramzan festival were seriously affected, as they lost their means of livelihood. They appealed to the government to come to their rescue.