Prime Minister Directs For Steps To Stop Fire Eruptions

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Saturday suggested to the authorities concerned to utilize the latest fire fighting techniques and arrangements to overcome fire eruption incidents like the one that took place in Shirani area of Balochistan

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st May, 2022 ) :Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Saturday suggested to the authorities concerned to utilize the latest fire fighting techniques and arrangements to overcome fire eruption incidents like the one that took place in Shirani area of Balochistan.

Chairing a meeting over the recent incident of forest fire that burnt precious pine trees in Balochistan, the prime minister stressed that all the latest tools and techniques should be employed to handle such situations in future.

He referred to the use of the latest fire suppression tactics in the United States and Australia, including spraying of wildfire retardants through helicopters.

He was informed that the fire that erupted on May 12 was considerably under control but due to hot and dry weather since May 20 fire had again started to spread.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was in contact with different federal departments, including forest, and local departments and had set up relief camps and offices to speed up assistance activities.

Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo informed the meeting that further steps were taken to bring fire under control. He also told about the assistance given to the heirs of the dead and the injured.

The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to take immediate steps for compensation to those families who had lost their loved ones in the incident.

He assured the provincial government of the Federal Government's full support to share the grief of the bereaved families and assist them financially, including bearing of educational and medical expenditures of their siblings.

The prime minister said three precious lives were lost in the unfortunate incident and observed that immediate and emergency steps were required to cope with the catastrophe.

He said precautionary steps should be taken to protect forests in Gilgit Baltistan and the Federal Government should ensure coordination between the departments.

He, however, expressed satisfaction that all the stakeholders, including the army, were making commendable efforts.

The prime minister also directed that monitoring teams should be deployed in the affected area and they keep close coordination with other related authorities till the issue was resolved.

He also sought a future mechanism to overcome such incidents and tasked the National Disaster Management Authority chairman to submit a plan within next two weeks after consultation with other relevant authorities.

Federal ministers Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Maulana Abdul Wasay, Marriyum Aurangzeb, NDMA chairman, Corps Commander Quetta, chief secretaries of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and relevant authorities attended the meeting through video link.