20230507 Fires gut evergreen patches in Nanoda
India May 07 2023 “Forest”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fires gut evergreen patches in Nanoda
Updated: 2023-05-07
Keri: Fires broke out in Nanoda, Sattari, on Saturday destroying some evergreen patches of forests lying on the left bank of the Mhadei river, close to the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.
As the cashew crop season nears its end, horticulturalists set leaf litter on fire to bring new areas under cashew plantation. That exercise often takes a toll on luxuriant forests.
Geerish Bailudkar, the range forest officer of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, said that staff was deployed immediately to fight the fires and they are doing their best.
Nanoda, predominantly a horticultural village, falls under the Nagargao panchayat which abounds in cashew growers. In March, a series of forest fires damaged large tracts in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and in areas of Sattari.
When they burn leaf litter, the undergrowth of exotic weeds spreads the flames, rapidly causing irreparable losses to the wildlife habitat, said Vithoba Gaonkar, a volunteer involved in dousing the fires in Nanoda.
Web Source: The Times of India