ISLAMABAD, June 15(ABC): Two people have been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a forest in Marghuzar valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat district, authorities said on Wednesday.
According to Deputy Commissioner Junaid Khan, the suspects had intentionally set fire to the forest in Marghuzar three days ago, an inferno that went on to threaten nearby settlements.
Although unprecedented heat and negligence are the likely causes behind most of the fires, it is now evident a criminal element cannot be sidelined.
14,000 acres of forest cover have been lost during the last three weeks. In some cases, “fires were set intentionally by the locals in order to benefit from a centuries-old law that permits them to share the ownership of forests with the government”, the publication said.
The law allows them to harvest empty land or use it to graze their livestock.
The massive fires, whether set intentionally or having erupted due to natural causes, have broken out in multiple locations over the past month, some of which continued to rage days later.
The latest inferno was reported by rescue teams in Kokarai on Sunday morning.
The day prior, a fire broke out in the Kala Kot forest area of Swat’s Matta town. Efforts to put out the blaze were underway throughout the day, according to rescue teams.
Several teams of the Levies forces, rescue services and civil defence officials took part in fire dousing operations.
Last week, four people were killed after a fire erupted in Shangla district.
The fire broke out in the houses located on the hills of Shangla and spread rapidly due to the dry weather.
Furthermore, fires broke out earlier this month in Kabal, lower Dir, Barikot, and Charbagh.