- The CDA director general says that machinery cannot reach the fire sites.
- There are no tree species in TIC that can catch fire on their own, he says.
- The official says their firefighting strategy focuses on populated areas.
After a series of forest fires ravaged the Margalla hills in the last few days, a senior Islamabad official has revealed that the fire incidents are actually due to human acts and are not a natural occurrence.
“All fires are due to someone's mischief or negligence,” said Capital Development Authority (CDA DG) Director General Irfan Niazi while speaking in Geographic news “Geo Pakistan” program on Monday.
The official's comments come as rescue workers have been engaged in large-scale firefighting operations in the hills surrounding the federal capital over the past week.
In the latest incident, authorities doused a brush fire in the Hills on Sunday.
On the other hand, a fire also broke out in the forest area which spread over an area of 15 to 20 acres located in Baghar Sharif area in Kahuta Tehsil of Rawalpindi.
Last week, the Islamabad district administration even detained three people on suspicion of “arson” in Margalla Hills.
“Three people have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the Margalla hills,” said Islamabad deputy commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon.
Continuing to explain the causes of forest fires, Director General Niazi of the CDA said that the phenomenon requires three main elements: high temperature, high speed winds and fuel.
“Since this [Margalla Hills] It is a national park, fuel is already available in the form of dry leaves and branches. In such a situation, due to someone's mischief or negligence, this can lead to fire,” he said while pointing out the mischief as there were no species of trees in Islamabad that could catch fire on their own.
It should be noted that parts of Pakistan have experienced temperatures as high as 52.2 degrees Celsius (126 F) over the past week, and South Asia has been sweltering in a hotter summer this year, a trend that scientists say has made worse by human-driven climate. change.
The machinery cannot reach the places of the fire
Commenting on preventive measures against forest fires, the official highlighted that the authorities ensure additional safety measures and involve the workforce, since there is a higher probability of fire in mid-June, which in fact is declared as ” fire season” due to the increase. in temperature.
On the difficulties faced by firefighting teams, he said that despite using fire extinguishers and flame throwers, most of their machinery could not reach the fire scene and the personnel had to reach the fire scene on foot.
“Regular visitors to Margalla Hills know that there are about 20 villages there, so in two or three fire incidents, the fire reached near them,” Niazi said, stressing that his firefighting strategy prioritizes populated areas. .
“So far there has been no loss of life. In previous years we had between 300 and 350 people on staff to extinguish fires. However, this year we have increased the number to 400. When it comes to equipment, the obstacle is that these forests are on a mountain, so they cannot reach the site,” he added.
