The world’s largest pine nut forest located in Balochistan’s Sherani district burnt relentlessly for nearly two weeks only to cool off after the passage of two weeks. The authorities yet to determine how much wildlife, environmental and agricultural damage the forest fire has caused in the region. The fire issue as usual came to light late on the national media, when PM took notice of the fire and Pak Army started relief operation, the mainstream media was quick to give space to the forest fire on their screens.
The forest range is home to pine trees dating back to 1,500 years. Generations of farmers and cattle herders have relied on the forest for their livelihoods for decades. This unfortunate fire incident reduced millions of trees to ashes, inflicting losses amounting to billions of rupees on local communities. Had the authorities taken timely action, the fire could have been controlled and the damage would have been far lesser.
Though Pakistan is a nuclear state, but sadly we don’t have enough resources and technology to douse such wildfire. A joint operation carried out by Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, PDMA and district administration too could not yield the desired results. Sadly the water was being brought from sea via helicopters to douse the fire in the traditional way. Thanks to Iran’s ‘biggest firefighter aircraft’ which finally came to the rescue and the forest fire was successfully extinguished.
Many of you must have remember the recent forest fire allegedly put up by a TikToker at Margala Hills for filming a video, that too took too long for the rescue fighters to bring the blaze down.
This does not take away from the sheer incompetence and negligence that was at play. While facing an unprecedented ecological crisis, in which Pakistan is one of the countries most affected, are the concerned officials unaware of what happens when a forest fire is left untreated? The government must be prepared to react to such emergencies and protect the livelihood of those affected.
