Fire again reported from Margalla Hills of Islamabad

Fire again broke out on Margalla Hills overlooking Islamabad on Monday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to reports, smoke started rising from the site as soon as the fire broke out in a jungle on the hill close to Kohsar Block of Pak Secretariat.

However, the officials of Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Wildlife Department were not aware of it till last reports came in.

Fires rage in different parts of AJK

The department set up in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) for the protection of forests has failed to deliver as fires that erupted at several places of the region several days ago, are still to be extinguished, leaving the locals to try to put out the flames on their own.   

Initially, these were the forests in Mirpur that caught fire. But yesterday fire also erupted in the forests surrounding the AJK capital Muzaffarabad, causing a colossal loss to vegetation and wildlife.

Even those trees are burnt in these fires that take 50 years to reach their full height.

Only two days ago on Saturday night, a fire erupted on Margalla Hills due to extreme heatwave several hours after the firefighters managed to extinguish the first blaze.

According to Islamabad DC Irfan Memon, the fire broke out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and eventually spread to the federal capital.

“Capital Development Authority (CDA) firefighters and rescue teams are present at the site,” he informed.

He said a firewall had been developed to prevent the flames from reaching urban areas of Islamabad, adding the administration and the KP government are making joint efforts to put out the fire.

Forest fire cases occurring due to heatwave: PDMA

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the PDMA said that extreme heat was to blame for frequent incidents of fire in the forests of Punjab.

Reporters: Rozeena Ali and Safeer Raza