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Thursday, March 28 2024
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Mysuru

Forest dept shocker: Forest staffers bank on shrubs to battle wildfire!

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Mysuru: Acres of precious forest wealth has been lost in the recent Bandipur Wildfire and the authorities have struggled to get the raging fire under control. While the wildfire havoc had left many depressed, what is all the most disheartening is to know that the forest department still does not have latest technology in place to tackle such incidents. At a juncture of time when fire extinguishers have found a place even in our homes, forest department does not have advanced fire fighting equipment. What is shocking is that even today forest personnel bank on shrubs to put off wildfire!

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, sources in the forest department said that even to this day shrubs are used to douse off fire. “There is only little we can do when there is forest fire and all that you have at hand are some shrubs to put it off. The result is that the fire spreads at its own pace and we are left behind as mute spectators to the havoc,” said the source adding that there is a need for the forest department to understand how these cases are handled in developed countries of the world.
“The government must treat Bandipur fire rage as a man-made calamity and act upon now,” he said demanding for timely recruitment of adequate staff into the department, specifically during summer.

However, MK Sapthagirish, Wildlife Enthusiast who was in Bandipur when the wildfire incident occurred has endorsed the view and said that it is high time the department adopted hi-tech fire fighting method.

“Though there were more than 800 volunteers, there was no equipment for them to fight the fire. I would only blame the department here because the lack of will and motivation to fight and lack of co-ordination within the department was evident. All this worsened the operations. Crores of rupees are given to the department to tackle fire mishaps. If this is the case, where are the equipment,” he questioned adding that carbon cylinders could have been great saviours, but unfortunately the department did not have them.

“The department knew that the situation was very bad even on Saturday, but they failed to take quick decision. If only a helicopter was brought in on Saturday itself we would have saved thousands of acres,” he adds.

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