Team Herald
PANJIM: The wildfire in Goa’s forest, raging since last 10 days has finally been doused thus bringing some respite. However, the extinguished fire locations are being closely watched for recurrence.
Though, the cause of wildfire is yet to be ascertained, the Forest Department is been directed by the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to submit a report identifying the reasons for fire, total forest area destroyed along with type of destructions, within next week.
Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday attended the review meeting on forest fires in Goa conducted by NDMA, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, MoEF&CC, National Disaster Response Force and others.
“We no longer have any active flames as of right now… To be safe, though, the extinguished fire locations are being closely watched to look for recurrence,” Rane said in a string of tweets on after a review meeting. He said that any locations with a potential for recurrence, such as Derodem, Surla, Mhadei are constantly monitored.
Since March 5, when the first fire broke out in the forests of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, a total of 71 fire spots have been attended to and doused.
Rane added that the NDMA has advised Goa’s Forest Department to assess the area affected by fires and take corrective measures at the earliest. “The State government will prepare a comprehensive Forest Fire Management Plan to prevent and manage forest fires,” he said.
During the meeting, it was also discussed that Goa should be included in the National Forest Fire Prevention and Management Plan being prepared by NDMA, Rane said adding that a letter requesting the same would be made to the Union Home Ministry.
The forest fires were first noticed at a location in Satrem village of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary on March 5. The wildfire soon spread to other locations in the sanctuary, while fires erupted simultaneously in several other sanctuaries, including the Mollem, Cotigao and Netravali wildlife sanctuaries.
The Minister said that strict action under Wildlife Protection Act would be initiated against those entering the wildlife areas without permission.
“Whoever violating the law would be arrested. At the same time we will see that the locals, who have their cashew and other plantations, do not suffer,” he said.
Meanwhile, the State has also alerted its counterpart Karnataka for effective inter-State coordination to control fires across border.
Rane said that the concerned deputy conservator of forest will maintain a high state of alert, send out fire watchers to critical spots and conduct extensive patrols along the border areas.