Barbecue, lightning fire banned at Margalla Hills

Islamabad : The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has imposed section 144 and prohibited barbecue and campfires in the vicinity of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) for next three months.

According to the official order issued by the IWMB, there is a complete ban on smoking, bonfires, burning of garbage, carrying flammable items such as lighters, charcoal, matchstick and bottles of petrol and kerosene oil in the MHNP.

It said that lightning fire often leads to forest fire especially in the summer season when the rising temperature further aggravates the situation.

An official said the ban on lightning fire has been imposed due to the fact that the warm conditions in the upcoming summer months often caused fire incidents that ultimately not only resulted in loss of tree cover but also damaged natural habitats of the wildlife animals.

“We are developing a mechanism to prevent fire incidents in MHNP for which the coordination of the local people and visitors is vital otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the desired results,” he said.

Some 300 personnel of the civic agency and IWMB are there to keep vigil but the seasonal fires are still a big issue that poses threats to the vegetative cover and wildlife species in the Margalla hills.

Currently, 10 pickets have been set up and staff deployed on ground and prepared to tackle the fire incidents. Spreading over 12,605 hectares, the MHNP witnesses fire incidents every year. Sometimes bigger and more frequent fires damage trees and plants besides adding to the air pollution and rising temperature in the area.

The IWMB chairperson said the ban on lightning fire would expire on June 30 and it would hopefully help prevent fire incidents in the summer season.