Irresponsible visitors causing fire incidents in Margalla Hills

Islamabad: The issue of the irresponsible attitude of the visitors still needs to be addressed strictly as cigarette butt has caused another fire incident in the heart of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

According to the details shared by the office of the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, the pieces of evidence collected from the site showed that a visitor threw a burning cigarette butt into the woods that caused the fire in the forest area.

The staff members of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) stated that fire incident happened near popular Jungle Spot adjacent to the Zoo area and it was a difficult terrain due to which they faced hardships in controlling the fire. They pointed out that it was quite unfortunate incident as large numbers of nests of bird species were also severely affected by smoke and fire.

It is pertinent to mention here that the breeding season is at its peak due to which more than 300 bird species need calm and the serene natural environment in MHNP. The fire also erupted two days ago at Rumli top where a sang (dead standing tree) burned which is the nesting site of cavity nester birds.

The IWMB is working hard to put in place a mechanism to control fire incidents in the Margalla Hills. But the situation is getting worse day by day due to the negligence of the visitors who often ignore guidelines issued by the local administration.

Smoking cigarette is banned in MHNP but still the visitors are seen violating the law at recreation spots in the forest areas. The officials of IWMB have also held meetings with the local people and sought their cooperation for reducing fire incidents in the Margalla Hills.