ISLAMABAD: A heavy fire on Sunday erupted at Trail-3 of the Margalla Hills National Park that affected a huge area of the protected forest where Pakistan Army on the special directions of the prime minister provided two helicopters to assist civil administration in the fire fighting operation.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on the special directions of the prime minister following the request of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) provided helicopters for extinguishing fire in the Margallas, the NDMA spokesperson told APP.
The spokesperson said that Pakistan Army helicopters were assisting in extinguishing fire at Margalla Hills.
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) also in its news release informed that the Army was assisting civil administration in extinguishing fire on Malgalla Hills.
As many as two Pakistan Army Aviation Helicopters were flown to the affected area.
The helicopters through multiple sorties used bambi buckets carrying water for extinguishing the fire whereas the fire fighting still continued.
An Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) official told APP that the fire was reported around 02:00 p.m. to 02:30 p.m. at Trail-3.
Almost 25 fire fighters of the Board rushed to the scene to put out fire whereas 20 fire fighters of the CDA were working jointly to extinguishing the fire, he added.
The official added that the CDA has also called it’s additional fire fighting staff that comprised of around 25 fire fighters to chip in the fire operation.
He said the fire was massive and probably man-made as every year forest fire used to erupt in this area during peak season.
It may be mentioned here that fire season starts from April in Margallas and badly damages biodiversity, ecology, soil and wildlife. The IWMB and CDA officials set up fire fighting pickets to patrol in the area to contain forest fires in the national park.
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