Fires inside Mhadei sanctuary man-made, now doused: Vishwajit Rane

KERI: Forest staffers from across the state were rushed to the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary on Monday to contain the fire burning inside the protected area at Satre. After inspecting the operations late on Monday evening, forest minister Vishwajit Rane said the fire had been doused and that the cause of the fire was “mostly man-mad.
Multiple fires, including the one at Satre, were first reported on Sunday in and around the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary. On Monday morning, the forest department requested the Navy to conduct an aerial survey, following which the department was informed that around eight to ten fires were active inside the sanctuary.
By Monday evening, the fires were largely doused, even though forest and fire services personnel struggled to reach hilly and inaccessible areas, where fire fighting equipment could not be transported.
Later on Monday, some reoccurrence of doused fires was also reported.
Acting assistant principal chief conservator of forests Saurabh Kumar said that investigations have been taken up to ascertain the cause of the fire. He said that heavy force of forest staff has been deployed in the sanctuary to monitor the situation.
“Fires were seen in Chorla, Anmod Ghat, besides inside the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary during the aerial survey conducted by the Navy. The fires have been doused, though some minor recurrence has been reported. We are investigating the cause of the fire. With the help of the Navy, fire personnel and forest department staff, and help from locals as well, we were able to bring the situation under control,” he said.
Even though Rane said that the fire caused no damage to trees and that it was mainly a ground fire, wildlife enthusiasts assisting the officials to douse the fires said that trees and ecology suffered damages in large parts of the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary due to the blaze that lasted at least 24 hours.
In Satre, rich forested areas around the historic natural fort of Satregad were severely scorched by the fire.
Rane visited Ponsuli and Chorla Ghat along with forest department officiala.
“Forest fires were reported in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in a large area, including Charavane, Chorla Ghat, Pali and Satre. The cause of fire is mostly man-made and an inquiry is in progress to find out miscreants. At places dead trees and wind flow further aggravated the fire. Forest dept in coordination with North Goa collector, fire department and all concerned, including local people, are attending to the forest fire on top priority,” Rane said, post his visit.
A total of 15 teams of around 150 forest frontline staff, fire trekkers and labourers have been deployed to control fire, he said.
“Earlier today morning, on request of the Goa forest department, the Indian Navy deployed a Dornier Aircraft to ascertain ground situation and extent of fire areas. A total of eight active fire locations were reported by the Navy consequent to aerial survey. In all locations, the forest department acted swiftly in coordination with all authorities. By late evening, the fire was doused successfully,” said Rane, adding that he has asked the forest department to continue monitoring the situation and take action to ensure that there is no major loss to flora and fauna.
Rane also appealed to the locals to be careful while trying to light controlled fires. “I request people not do such things since the consequences of such acts can be horrible,” he said.
“During summers, as temperatures are unusually high, the leaves and grass are completely dry and, in this condition, even a small controlled fire lit by someone can go out of control as the dried leaves and grass act as fuel,” Kumar said.
Volunteers, who were engaged in the work to contain the wildfires, said, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said “Some elements are involved in deliberately lighting the fires, destroying large tracts of forest, which is natural habitat of wild animals like tigers, leopards, sloth bears and others. Possibility of naturally lit wildfires in moist deciduous forests is very low. Lack of the wildfire management squads and mechanisms resulted in irreparable losses to wildlife, forest and ecology.”