20120408 India Miscreants burn Miramar’s sand dune vegetation
India Apr 08 2012 “Other”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Miscreants burn Miramar’s sand dune vegetation
Update: 2012-04-08
Panaji: A large stretch of sand dune vegetation at Miramar was set on fire by miscreants on Saturday evening.
“It was a big blaze and two fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire,” a fire official said. A fireman had an encounter with a snake, sources said, adding that the fire destroyed not only fauna but also snakes and other reptiles.
Scientist A G Untawale, who alerted fire officials, said, “Some unscrupulous persons are eyeing the coconuts in the area. With the vegetation cleared and snakes dead, they can easily pluck the coconuts. But that is not the only reason, some have a long term plan for real estate. In a sustained plan, they destroy the vegetation and then level the sand dune,” he said. Stating that it is an assault on the environment, Untawale said the sand dunes are protected under the Environment Protection Act. “There has to be police vigilance here, otherwise, the fires will be a regular feature. Today is not the first time it has happened. On several occasions in the past, such fires were reported and it happened on Friday,” the scientist said.
Experts say vegetation topping the sand dunes act as a shield to protect the dunes from being blown away by winds.
Web Source: The Times of India