It was decided that a base camp would be set up at the eastern side of Mount Iso range
KRC TIMES Manipur Bureau
Efforts to extinguish wildfire in the hill ranges of Dzuko in Senapati District continued for the fourth day today. Another combined team consisting 59 personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 35 personnel of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), 32 personnel of Manipur Fire Service and Manipur Police personnel made another attempt to prevent the spread of fire in the southern side of Mount Iso (Tenipu) range. Two Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopters were also deployed to spray water. Till 1 pm, the two helicopters had completed eight sorties together. Later in the afternoon, it was reported that one more helicopter was pressed into action. Another helicopter is expected to join the operation later.
Meanwhile, Public Health Engineering Minister Losii Dikho, who is currently camping at Mao to supervise the operation, chaired another round of joint meeting with the representatives of Senapati District Administration, Police, NDRF, SDRF and Fire Service, to review the situation today.
During the meeting, it was decided that a base camp would be set up at the eastern side of Mount Iso range. Tents for the base camp will be provided by the Deputy Commissioner of Senapati District and it will be transported using the vehicles of District Police.
It was reported on January 1, 2021 that after a thorough analysis of the nature of the wildfire and the landscape of the region, a combined team of Senapati District Police, Fire Service and local volunteers cleared a stretch of around a half kilometre of forest vegetation in between the third and the second mountain of Mount Iso range. The team successfully prevented the spread of the fire towards the eastern side by using sand and fire extinguisher. However, the inferno still continued on the southern and western side and approximately more than 200 acres of Mount Iso range had already been reduced to cinders.
It may be mentioned that the unfortunate wildfire started on December 29, 2020. The next day, a team of officials of Mao police, Forest Department and local volunteers from Mao areas numbering around 130 went for spot verification and also to prevent the spread of the fire. However, it was hard to extinguish the fire as it was spreading fast in the dry small bamboo bushes due to the speedy wind.
In the early morning of December 31, 2020, a team of Manipur Police led by three Additional SPs along with Fire Service officials led by Joint Director and local volunteers numbering around 150 under the overall supervision of Senapati SP went to the spot to stop its further spread. The team faced difficulties to prevent the spread of fire due to steep slope and speedy wind.
It may be mentioned that Chief Minister N. Biren Singh along with Chief Secretary Dr. Rajesh Kumar and DGP L.M. Khaute had also undertaken an aerial survey of the area to take stock of the situation on December 31, 2020.
