The wildlife management board of the capital had advised authorities against hiring seasonal firefighters on daily wages during the fire season but then failed in managing fires that enveloped Margalla Hills earlier this year, a local media outlet reported on Tuesday.
The aforementioned details were revealed during a hearing by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) over the fires.
Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (MCI) Environment Director Irfan Niazi said that the fire season in the Margalla Hills National Park is between April 15 and July 15 and that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) hires daily-wage firefighters to manage the threat.
He informed that wildlife board’s chairman had asked the environmental department not to hire the firefighters, arguing it was the boards responsibility to do so.
He informed that National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Pakistan Army had to be called in for assistance to douse the fires.