GHALANAI: Keeping in view the frequent incidents of forest fire in recent past and particularly in border areas of Mohmand tribal district, the district administration with support of forest department would form a forest fire management team (FFMT) to prevent such incidents in future.

In this connection a meeting was held in Ghalanai on Tuesday with Deputy Commissioner Mohmand Arifullh Awan in the chair.

The divisional forest officer informed the meeting that there were 20,241 hectares forest land, 3,238 natural forests, 151,543 hectares range land, 65,574 hectares agricultural land, 4,425 barren land, 1,977 settlement and 3,558 water bodies in Mohmand tribal district.

“Forest fire incidents are occurring in Mohmand while the forest department has not huge resources to prevent such incidents,” he said.

The deputy commissioner said that district administration with support of forest department and all stakeholders would develop a comprehensive strategy to minimise losses in such incidents.

He said that for that purpose a control room would be established soon at the deputy commissioner office that would work round the clock in case of any emergency situation.

The deputy commissioner asked the forest department to identify hotspots and nearby water sources and arrange tools for fire extinguishing within the available budget.

He said that forest department before forming FFMT jointly with Rescue 1122 should prepare a contingency plan and all standard operating procedures regarding it.

The deputy commissioner directed the officials to set up forest fire lines and ensure prevention of forest fire in the hotspots.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2022