The Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) have failed to prevent recurrent fires in the Margalla Hills National Park.
At least three fires broke out in the hills on Friday, following another fire on Wednesday.
These hazards are affecting the local ecosystem by destroying the flora and threatening the fauna.
The Margalla Hills are spread over 12,605 hectares and have been affected by a large number of fires every year, which the CDA and the IWMB have been unable to control.
“There is a need for a proper investigation to know what are the reasons behind the frequent fires though a fire could be a natural phenomenon and a result of human activity,” a CDA official remarked.
He added that the hills are looked after by the CDA Environment Wing Regional and the IWMB, but that “There is also a need to check if there is any rivalry between these two organizations”.
According to another official, a possible reason behind these frequent outbreaks of fire could be linked to the CDA’s annual recruitment of around three to four hundred locals for firefighting purposes, as the disgruntled locals who were not selected could be starting the forest fires as revenge.
There is a need for a thorough investigation to find out if these fires are deliberate incidents, he added.
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Meanwhile, the CDA’s Director-General Environment, Naveed Tareen, said, “We have taken measures to control fire incidents by deploying a dedicated team of firefighters”.
While discussing the reasons for these outbreaks, he said,
A fire is a natural phenomenon but it could also be a result of human error. It could also be a deliberate attempt to defame staffers hired by the CDA. Today, there were three fire incidents and all of them were put out. The cause of the fires was high temperature.
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The Chairperson of the IWMB, Rina Saeed Khan, was worried about the loss of wildlife in these fires, and said, “according to my staffers, an unknown person is involved in today’s fire incidents. We will probe this matter and would take action against those involved”.
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