THERE appears to be no respite from the forest fires that keep erupting in whatever relatively dense forests remain in the country. These forest fires have been aggravated by the prevailing heatwave, underscoring the deadly impact of climate change and the need for Pakistan to address and adapt to new realities if it wants to prevent loss of life and resources. The recent blazes in Besham and Chakesar tehsils in Shangla district have reportedly been controlled, albeit after claiming at least three lives, taking the total death toll from forest fires in KP to nine. The past few weeks have witnessed dozens of small to medium blazes in Swat, Haripur, Khanpur, Lower Dir, Mohmand, Shangla, Mansehra, D.I. Khan, Murree, Islamabad and Rawalpindi districts. The most damaging was the raging inferno that destroyed a large portion of the centuries-old chilghoza forests and olive trees in the Koh-i-Sulaiman range straddling the KP-Balochistan border. The fire also claimed lives in the Sherani district of Balochistan.

In this context, the announcement earlier this week by the climate change ministry to establish SOPs to control forest fires and suggest ways to prevent them is a welcome one. Reportedly, under the new guidelines, the provincial departments concerned had been put on alert in ‘high-risk zones’. The SOPs suggest attributing ‘disaster’ status to forest fires to get an immediate response from national and provincial disaster management bodies. Moreover, it has also been suggested that the relevant authorities establish watch towers, create fire ditches and set up localised control rooms across all forest zones. The SOPs encourage the involvement of local communities in preventing fires and in rescue efforts, besides alerting nearby schools and mosques to share relevant announcements or aid the firefighting and rescue efforts. Though the remit of the climate change ministry is restricted to areas under federal control, it hopes to play a larger role in coordinating “climate-related actions” through its Climate Change Task Force. The authorities should also make an effort to spread awareness among the local public so that volunteers do not resort to using tree branches to put out large blazes, which are as dangerous as some other conventional practices that have accidentally sparked fires in places. It would be good if the relevant authorities translate the SOPs into local languages and disseminate them among the public so that they too may use the recommended means to save themselves and their properties from damage.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2022