‘No fire incident occurred on Margalla Hills’

Officials on Friday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change that no fire incident occurred on Margalla Hills recently and TikToker Nosheen Syed, known as Dolly, set fire to a forest along the Hazara Motorway for a promotional video.

The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change met as Senator Seemi Ezdi chaired the meeting.

Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Chairperson Rina Saeed told the committee that the investigation into the bush fires had been completed and three arsonists have been arrested. She, however, said that no fire incident took place on the Margallaa Hills and both the fire incidents took place in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where Tik Talker Dolly made a promotional video along the Hazara Motorway.

 She said that the TikToker involved in glamorising bushfire had been taken to task, while three of her accomplices have been detained and a search for the remaining culprits was underway.  Rina said that the board had completed the inquiry and the perpetrators were tracked, while the Divisional Forest Officer Abbottabad was pursuing the case.

Director Environment Irfan Niazi said that the fire spread over 2.5-kilometre near Haripur which would have burned the entire area from Monal to Quaid-e-Azam University if it had not been controlled.

At this, Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said that instead of discharging responsibility, the bug is passed on to each other over fire incidents.

She expressed grave concern over fire incidents in Balochistan saying “the fire that is ravaging Sherani district in Zhob is getting out of hand and the provincial government needs to take cognizance of its repercussions. The pine nut trees are burning and three deaths have already been reported. The NDMA has provided a helicopter for the mission, now the provincial government needs to appraise the federal government on what is been done there."

Earlier, the committee members visited the fire control room and pickets at the Margalla Hills National Park.

On the occasion, they were informed about the firefighting arrangements by the IWMB and the Capital Development Authority (CDA). The chairperson of the committee was accompanied by Senator Abida Muhammad Azeem, Senator Keshoo Bai, and Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed.

The IWMB chairperson briefed the members on the IWMB endeavours to protect the national park. She said the fire season starts from April to June in Margallas, where pine needles, which are highly inflammable and the reason for bush fires in the national park, fall in this season.

She said that the IWMB had had a total of 60 staffers and 400 CDA fire staff and locals also chip in during firefighting efforts.

This season, she said, seven fire incidents took place at the Margalla Hills National Park, of which five were minor ones. “The recent fire in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, that also entered into the MHNP jurisdiction, was severe and was controlled by joint efforts of IWMB, the CDA and the KP forest department,” Rina said adding that “We cannot leave our pickets, as the key areas become vulnerable to man-made fires. However, strict vigilance is maintained as wildfires increase in fire season.

According to Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), six months to three years imprisonment was the penalty for starting a deliberate bushfire, she told the committee members.

Senator Abida Azeem raised her concerns over a serious bushfire in Balochistan's Koh-e-Sulaiman range that damaged very valuable pine trees, wildlife and birdlife. Responding to Senator Abida, Senator Sherry Rehman commented that the fire incident that occurred in the Koh-e-Sulaiman range of Balochistan was a matter of grave concern. "We cannot intervene in the matters of the provincial government, but as citizens can share our concerns on the matter".

The TikToker glamourised the fire incident in K-P, which was criminal misconduct and she should be held accountable as per the law, she added.

(With additional input from APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2022.