Seven doused by Monday, says forest department
Panaji/Ponda/Valpoi: Over a week after the first forest fire was reported in the state, fires continue to rage in various forests across the state.
A total of five fires are currently active in the state as of Monday, while seven were doused by the deployed teams by 4 p.m.
According to the forest department, fires raged on Monday in the government forests at Surla I Mollem, Surla II Mollem, Potrem Netravali, Khopardem beat Valpoi and Shigao beat.
The fires that were doused on Monday include Keri Nadkeri beat, Gullem in Canacona, Borim, Okambi-Piliem, Paguchi Dongre, Curdi-Colomba and Cumari Netravali.
Forests in the state have been under fire since March 5 and the forest department staff, along with locals, has been working continuously to douse the flames.
In Dharbandora taluka, several incidents of fire have been reported in the forest areas in the last three days. The forest areas of Kalay (Pokharmal and Matoje), Piliem (Siddha Dongar) and Tambdi Surla have been destroyed by the wildfire.
According to the information available, fire in the Pokharmal and Matoje areas in Kalay was reported first in the taluka. Soon, a fire was reported in the wooded area of Tambdi Surla on Saturday following which locals and forest officials rushed to the site to douse the flames.
On Sunday afternoon, a fire was reported in the forest at Pillem Tisk in the Siddha Dongar area, which is located near the Sanjivani sugar factory. Though the authorities and locals are working to put out this fire, they have not yet attained success in completely extinguishing it.
“On Sunday, we thought we had controlled the fire and returned to our homes. However, on Monday we saw the hill burning again and rushed to the site,†said villagers, who were on the site to douse the flames.
As the fire has broken out deep inside the forest, fire tenders are unable to reach the site. Navy helicopters were pressed into service for aerial water spraying.
“Though the fire has reduced by Monday evening, we are not sure if it has been controlled completely,†locals said speaking to this daily. The exact reason behind the fire is unclear, said forest department officials said.
Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane said the forest department is actively monitoring the situation and the ground teams are acting swiftly to put out all the reported fires.
“Five fires are currently active as of March 13, 2023. More than 450 employees and volunteers worked together to put out the fire in total. Seven active fires had been put out by Monday evening,†he said.
In Sattari, fire is active in Khopardem. “There was a recurrence of fire at Derode. We have managed to douse it. However, there are chances of the fire breaking out again here,†said a volunteer.
Stating that the volunteers started the operation to douse the flames at Derode at 10 a.m. on Monday, he said the operation lasted till 4.30 p.m. “With our team working hard, the blaze is under control now. Help was also extended by the Indian Navy,†he said.
The volunteers have also drawn a fire line in the forest area by clearing the dry leaves to curtail the spread of fire.
Describing the recent forest fires as the worst he has ever witnessed, an elderly man said the flames have reduced large tracts of the forests in the Western Ghats, which are usually resistant to fires as they are tropical moist forests, to ashes.
Meanwhile, the Curchorem fire station in-charge and his 12 personnel had a tough time on Monday, as the fire station attended to five calls.
The fire fighters extinguished two fires that had broken out on hills apart from saving a cashew plantation from getting destroyed by fire. The fire station attended to yet another call of dry grass catching fire.
The last call attended by the Curchorem fire station was from Coprimoddi Assolda where a coconut and mango plantation had caught fire. The fire-fighting team managed to save a substantial area of the property though the fire destroyed some of the plantation.
Following the forest department’s submission of report regarding the fire incidents in the state’s forests, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has initiated a probe to ascertain the reasons behind the fire incidents.
As of now, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy helicopters are assisting the state government in the operations carried out to douse the forest fires.