Islamabad:Some frequent eruption of fire on Margalla Hills even before start of summer season, have raised alarms for those at helm affairs to take measures for prevention of such incidents in future.
Within a week, the Environment Wing of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) reported second incident of fire on Margalla Hills on Wednesday. According to the details, the eruption of fire on Margalla Hills side facing Margalla Avenue was reported at around 9pm and was extinguished after 4am in the morning.
The spokesman of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration said that 30 fire-fighters reached the site of fire on foot and controlled it at 4.15am. Earlier, the previous incident of fire on Margalla Hills was reported on Saturday night and was controlled in the wee hours.
Meanwhile, a meeting was held on Thursday at CDA Headquarters regarding the prevention of fire incidents on the Margalla Hills before the fire season, under the chairmanship of Chairman CDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa.
The meeting reviewed the arrangements and preparations made in case of fire incidents on Margalla Hills. Randhawa said that the purpose of the meeting is to review the preparations according to SOPs and protocols before the fire season.
During the briefing, it was informed that the process of temporarily hiring staff before the fire season will be completed soon. The meeting was informed that along with clearing the existing fire lines, the monitoring process will be further improved.
The briefing said that alongside ensuring effective communication, the responsibilities of the relevant staff will be formally assigned and the number of pickets will be increased to further improve the monitoring process.
The meeting was further informed that all safety equipment, including fire balls, fire extinguishers and others are available. He said that the staff of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, CDA and district administration will work together as one unit. In this regard, job descriptions for all relevant staff should be prepared.
The chairman said that the aim of all these measures is to ensure the beauty, greenery and lushness of the Margalla Hills. He added that necessary training should also be provided to enhance the capacity of the Emergency and Disaster Management staff so that their services can also be utilised when needed. He concluded that a strategy should be devised to prevent incidents of fire spread by ensuring effective coordination with the administrations of other districts adjacent to the capital.
