ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board on Sunday suspected foul play in a fire in the Margalla Hills National Park that engulfed 22 kanals of forest area on the top of Trail 4.

Nearly 60 staff members from the IWMB and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had to make considerable efforts to control the fire by the evening.

“Luckily our teams responded immediately. There are no roads leading to the top and the task became harder,” said IWMB Chairperson Rina Saeed Khan.

The IWMB suspected that the fire could have been started by villagers but at the same time it did not rule out the possibility of hikers/trekkers who could have started the fire.

“It was a Sunday and Trail 4 is open to hikers. We are investigating how the fire started and will know by tomorrow (Monday) what really happened,” said Ms Khan, adding: “Plus it was a warm day, about 40 degrees, and very dry, just kind of environment for the fire to spread fast.”

In response to a question about possible foul play, Ms Khan said that staff would have to be more vigilant till the end of June, until the monsoon season started.

“We will need enhance monitoring, more teams going up, more pickets to keep a constant check for the whole next month,” said the official.

The first fire of the season broke out earlier in April forcing the additional district magistrate to impose Section 144, barring visitors from cooking barbecues that risked starting forest fires.

Section 144 prohibited “BBQs, smoking, bonfires, burning and littering of garbage, littering of plastic, carrying flammable items such as lighters, charcoal, matchsticks, bottles of petrol/kerosene and tree cutting leading to loss of habitat, polluting water and clearing or breaking up of land in the Margalla Hills National Park, Islamabad in the jurisdiction of Federal Capital,” said the notification.

The fire season starts in April and continues till June, until monsoon rains commence in July.

The sudden dry windy and warm weather after the spring rains were to blame for the fire behind the Faisal Mosque.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2023