20160417 India Forest fire rages in Jajpur district
India Apr 16 2016 “Forest”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Forest fire rages in Jajpur district
Updated: 2016-04-17-06:59
With early summer temperature crossing 40C across the state, many forest pockets in Sukinda and Tamaka in Jajpur district have caught fire.
Official sources said the forest patches currently under fire are Daitari, Ostapala, Chingulipala, Deogaon, Kumudibahali under Sukinda forest range and Kansa, Raighati, Kaliapani, Tundisuni, Kiajhad, Telenga and Mahagiri under Tamaka forest range. Fire was noticed in the middle of the forest on Wednesday evening and there were at least eight places where the fire was noticed later. Many pockets have already been reduced to ashes, including Daitari Demarcated Protected Forest.
Fire was noticed on Mahagiri and Telenga hillocks posing a huge threat to elephants, snakes and other animals. “We have with the help of fire brigade personnel managed to extinguish fire at some places on Friday, but there are still a lot to be done, especially the hillocks, where accessibility through the dense forest is virtually impossible,” said Sobhagaya Kumar Sahoo, the forest range officer of Sukinda, on Saturday.
Fire-fighters and forest officials are trying to to keep the fire under control by digging deep into the Earth around the fire-hit area. “We have put up camps at six places and seek cooperation from locals to protect the forests from fire,” added the forest officer. Forest officials held people responsible for the fire. “People often sneak into the forest and set afire dry trees to clear the area for shifting cultivation,” said a senior forest official.
Some poachers also set the forest on fire to kill animals as they flee from the fire site to safer places, the official said. Not just bushes, hundreds of old trees, including many medicinal plants, also perish every time there is fire in the forest, said Babaji Mohant of Kumudibahala village.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Forest-fire-rages-in-Jajpur-district/articleshow/51861055.cms