Forest department declares ‘fire season’ from April 16

Citizens barred from carrying combustible material to forests

RAWALPINDI:

The forest department has declared “fire season" from April 16 to July 15 to protect forests and wildlife across Punjab including in the Rawalpindi division.

During this period of three months, citizens have been barred from carrying saws, knives, matches, cigarette litter, axes, and ‘tokas’ in the forests of Margalla, Kotli Sattian, Kahuta and Kallar Syedan in the four hilly tehsils around Margalla Hills in Islamabad.

Security has been tightened in Murree, Kotli Sattain, Kallar Syedan, Kahuta, Patriata, Ghora Gali, Bansra Gali, Lower Topa, Panjar, Lehtar, Karwar, and Bin during this period.

Additional forest guards and officers have been posted, and all the officers' camp offices have been set up in these forests. The services of eight Range Officers, 20 Block Officers, 12 Forest Guards, 13 vehicles and drivers of the Timber Division in the Forest Department have also been handed over to the Security Division to protect forest wildlife.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Shafaq Bashir Bhatta has issued orders to all field staff and officers of the Forest Department regarding the fire season. She has ordered complete tree plantation by April 15, clearance of all fallen and dry leaves, dry bushes and pruning of trees.

He had said that forests would be protected from any fires during this period, and that immediate fire would be extinguished in case any such incident occurred. “For this purpose, we have now built large ponds in the forest,” he said. “Fires can be brought under control by getting water immediately from the nearby forest,” he added.

Closed-circuit cameras have also been installed along all major forest routes to monitor who is coming and going out of the forest, he said. The entry of private vehicles has been banned in all government forests, he added. Wood sawing machines within a ten-kilometer radius around forests will be shut down during this period, he said.

Field staff vacations have also been discontinued during these three months, he added. Forests will be monitored and guarded 24 hours a day, even on Sundays, other gazetted holidays and Ramazan and Eid holidays. The official said that there was no major incident of timber theft or forest fire in forests due to strict measures taken last year.