ANP seeks probe into forest fires in Balochistan, KP

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Saturday said forests were an asset to the country but unfortunately the federal as well as provincial governments failed to control the fire erupted in some forests in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He was addressing a protest rally outside the Peshawar Press Club

The ANP leader said three people were killed and hundreds of animals burnt alive in the fire that erupted in the forests at Kor-e-Sulaiman mountain range in Sherani district in Balochistan and Darazanda area in Dera Ismael Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the fire was reduced to ashes olive, pine nut and oak trees.

“The federal government has ordered an inquiry to find how the fire started in the forests in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is least bothered to pay attention to this issue,” Mian Iftikhar Hussain said

ANP provincial senior vice president and deputy parliamentary party leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Khushdil Khan Advocate, former senator Syed Aqil Shah, MPAs Shagufta Malik and Samar Haroon Bilour and dozens of ANP activists participated in the protest.

The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans urging the government to take steps to protect forests and wildlife.

Mian Iftikhar said the PTI government claimed to have spent millions of rupees on the Billion Tree Tsunami projects but it has failed to protect the forests and previous trees in the province.

“The mines and minerals sector was already neglected and now the forests are being set on fire by certain elements,” he said. He said that the timer mafia was behind the fire eruption incidents.

The ANP leader asked the federal as well as provincial governments to expedite efforts to extinguish the fire in the forests of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, compensate the affected people and order an inquiry to fix responsibility.

He demanded the government to assess the damage caused by the fires.