Wildfires damage forests on 36 hectares
Losses worth millions occurred; locals suspect act of arson. PHOTO: REUTERS
A report submitted to the Peshawar High Court has revealed that wildfires have caused damage to forests on 36 hectares in the Hazara region in the last few months.
According to the report, in recent incidents, the wildfires affected an area of about 17,095 acres including trees on 488 hectares planted under the billion tree tsunami project in the province including in the Hazara region.
According to the report, more than 454 incidents of forest fires were reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa this year. However, the K-P Department of Forests, Environment and Wildlife has officially confirmed only 283 fire incidents.
According to the report submitted to the court, the wildfire damaged 36 hectares of the Hazara region and 140 hectares of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project in the province.
The wildfires in the Hazara region also affected 160 hectares of enclosures of birds, wild animals and local livestock.
Recent fire incidents in the Hazara region took place in the forests of Khanpur, Makhniyal and Ghazi.
Makhniyal resident Fayyaz Mughal said that the wildfires have destroyed large swathes of the area in the Hazara region but the forest department showed little damage to forests.
According to a report compiled by the provincial forestry, environment and wildlife department, of the 210 wildfire incidents between May 23 and June 9, some 55 blazes have been started intentionally by local people and 12 due to dry weather conditions while the cause of another 143 blazes was unknown.
The land and timber mafia is also active in the Hazara region and sets fire to forests. According to sources, about 454 fires were reported in K-P till the end of June and of them, 48 were reported in Abbottabad, 50 in Mansehra, 58 in Haripur, 11 in Shangla, nine in Swabi, six in Battagaram, 40 in Kohistan, two in Chitral Lower and one in Torgarh. In Haripur, wildfires were reported in the vicinity of Tarbela Dam in recent days. As a result, the forests of Kakar Choha and Dara Mohat were destroyed.
Imran, in charge of the firefighters' department, said the fire had severely affected both small plants and large trees.
Tarbela Dam officials said a fire broke out in the village of Kokarchoha near Tarbela Dam, which reached the hills of neighbouring Dara Mohat due to strong winds. According to WAPDA's fire fighting department in Tarbela Dam, eight fire engines of Tehsil Topi, a Chinese company and the TMA Ghazi took part in the operation and brought the fire under control after efforts of 20 hours.
Experts said that Pakistan was receiving far less rain than usual this year. Due to the extreme heat and drought weather conditions, the temperature of the soil rises to a certain level and the dry ground grass catches fire quickly.
Forest officials said an awareness campaign has also been launched for tourists to avoid indulging in forest fires.
They said that some people use forest firewood and often set fire to dry grass in the forest so that they can gather wood and fodder for cooking and their livestock. They said that the wind spreads sparks of fire which then go out of control.
Fayyaz Mughal, a resident of Makhniyal, said that the main wildfires were caused by the people as they clear the agricultural land after the crop is harvested and the grass is set on fire to clear it and the sparks lead to a fire in nearby forests.
He said that the extremely hot and dry weather was another reason for the forest fires. He said that 80 per cent of the forests have been damaged by the locals owning land nearby jungles as the forest department has failed to put in place measures to protect forests from catching fire.
It may be recalled that so far cases have been registered against more than 50 people across the province on charges of arson. Thirty-two suspects have been identified so far and seven have obtained bail.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2022.