Navi Mumbai: Enraged by the fire in the Kharghar hills on three consecutive Sundays, the Kharghar Citizen Forum and the Kharghar Green Army have decided to keep vigil on weekends to catch the miscreants.
“We have been observing that many trees are being destroyed. On Sunday afternoon, the forum and the green army along with Panvel forest officers and the fire brigade doused the blaze. Thus we protected at least 500 trees planted on the foot by the green army a few months ago,” Arjun Garad, a member of the green army, said.
Both the groups have decided to spread awareness in the nearby societies and ask the residents to report if they see anyone doing the mischief. “On Sunday, some people saw one person running away after lighting up dry grasses. These grasses were lush green until a month ago. From October, they started drying up, and now they are so dry that a small spark is enough to destroy the whole patch,” Mr. Garad said.
There are rumours that Adivasis do the act for either farming or to clear the pathway for making shortcuts to the foot of the hill. The forum plans to organise meetings with Adivasis to sensitise them to the hazards of fire to their health and environment. The forum has even initiated an awareness campaign on social media.
Following these incidents,forest officers have been taking rounds.
In July, the green army, a group registered with the State government, had planted around 1,700 saplings in Kharghar, and set up a drip irrigation facility with water from Pandavkada. Of these, 500 plants were at the foot of the hill.
Dileep Patil, a fire officer from Kharghar, said, during such an incident, neither fire nor water tenders are able to reach the spot due to which firefighters walk and douse the blaze using gunny bags. “Every time we get a call about fire on the hills, we do attend. The incidents of fire have been on the rise, and there are no clues on who is doing it. Rounds by forest officials and citizens should help prevent such incidents,” said Mr. Patil.