Goa: Volunteers and choppers stem fire reoccurrence

PANAJI: The deployment of volunteers and helicopters appears to be paying off with fewer fires recurring in Goa's vulnerable forests on Sunday. However, though the Goa forest department recorded just one new fire at Okambi Piliem in the government forest on Sunday, Surla, Netravalli Wildlife Sanctuary, Shigao and Curdi were ablaze.
Goa's fragile biodiversity hotspot, a part of the Western Ghats, has been burning for over a week now with state government authorities scrambling to beat back the flames.
"Hearing that there has been only one new fire since morning is a relief," said forest minister Vishwajit Rane. "I am grateful to our forest team, the Air Force, the Navy, and our locals who have fought the fires valiantly for days." he added, "I am confident we will soon be able to control this situation."
Aside from forest department officials, more than 450 volunteers have been deployed to help douse the fires. The District Disaster Management Authority issued directions on Saturday for community mobilisation and authorities have appointed 10-15 volunteers per forest beat. These volunteers are working in shifts along with the forest department staff to contain the fires.
The Indian Air Force has brought in an additional Mi-17 medium-lift helicopter equipped with an under-slung Bambi Bucket to aid the firefighting missions.
"The IAF continued with the Bambi Bucket operations for the fourth day in a row. Two Mi-17 helicopters of the IAF flew almost nine hours on Sunday to dispense over 48,000 litres of water over affected areas," said an IAF officer.
The helicopters have been flying from the naval airbase INS Hansa. The helicopters were deployed after the state government approached the defence ministry and sought assistance to fight the fires.