ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Thursday decided that the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), Capital Development Authority and the district administration will work as one unit to prevent fire incidents on Margalla Hills.

Moreover, the number of pickets on the hills will be increased to further improve monitoring.

Frequent fires on Margalla Hills have become a matter of concerns for the government and CDA for years. Spread over 12,605 hectares, Margalla Hills faced a number of fire incidents every year, and in the past human involvement was also blamed for many of the fire incidents.

Ahead of the fire season, the city managers held a meeting on Thursday to devise a strategy to handle the issue. However, only time will tell if the strategy would succeed or not.

The meeting held at the CDA headquarters was chaired by CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa.

CDA Member Administration Talat Mehmood, environmental expert Rizwan Mehboob, officers from the IWMB, Ministry of Climate Change and other relevant departments attended the meeting. The participants reviewed the arrangements and preparations to cope with any fire incidents on hills.

A press release stated that the purpose of the meeting was to review the preparations according to SOPs and protocols before the fire season.

During a briefing, the meeting was informed that the process of temporarily hiring staff before the fire season will be completed soon. Besides clearing the existing fire lines, the monitoring process will be further improved.

“Alongside ensuring effective communication, the responsibilities of the relevant staff will be formally assigned and the number of pickets will be increased to further improve the monitoring process. The meeting was further informed that all safety equipment, including fireballs, fire extinguishers and others are available.”

The CDA chairman said the staff of the IWMB, CDA and the district administration will work jointly as one unit. In this regard, job descriptions for all relevant staff should be prepared.

He said that necessary training should also be provided to enhance the capacity of the Emergency and Disaster Management staff so that their services can also be utilised when needed. He said a strategy should be devised to prevent incidents of fire spread by ensuring effective coordination with the administrations of other districts adjacent to Islamabad.

The meeting also reviewed the ongoing tree plantation campaign in the city. The meeting was informed that trees larger than six feet were being planted during the current plantation campaign to ensure their growth. The meeting was informed that students from schools, colleges and universities as well as civil society and the corporate sector had also been included in the current tree plantation campaign.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026