Army, Assam Rifles joins IAF, NDRF to douse Dzukou Valley forest fire

New Delhi, Jan 4: In the ongoing effort to douse the wildfire in Dzukou valley on the Nagaland-Manipur border, the Indian Army and Assam Rifles are assisting the Indian Air Force (IAF) and NDRF to douse the forest fire in Dzukou Valley which broke out on Tuesday.

 

Four Mi-17 helicopters of the IAF equipped with Bambi buckets continued their efforts on Sunday and sprayed waters on the hills but the fire could not be doused till evening. The operation will resume on Monday morning.

 

The fire broke out on Tuesday on the Nagaland side at Dzukou, situated atop 2452-meter and it started spreading towards Manipur. The fire was raging so much that it could be seen from Nagaland capital Kohima, situated about 30km away. NDRF and IAF choppers were called in on Friday.

 

According to an official release, it said Spear Corps of the army was working hand in hand with various central and state organizations and tackling the problem in a synchronized manner. "The Army and Assam Rifles are providing all possible assistance to the NDRF teams in terms of accommodation, tentage, and logistics so that they can execute their tasks to their full efficiency. The army is also providing its aviation base for the launch of Bambi bucket operations and coordinating ground support, air traffic control, air space management as well as other logistic support to the IAF," he said.

 

"Senior Army officials also had a meeting with the state administration for better synergy in the ongoing efforts. Indian Army has displayed true joint manship in coordinating and synchronizing efforts of all agencies involved in dousing the wildfire," he added.

 

Firefighters of Manipur managed to control the forest fire on the eastern side spreading from Mount Khungho towards Mao but it could not be controlled at the southern side. This forced Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to seek the help of union home minister Amit Shah.

 

On Friday Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the prompt intervention."Just received a call from Union Home Minister @AmitShah Ji to assess and discuss the situation about the wildfire at Dzuko valley. Amit Shah Ji has assured all the necessary assistance from the Home Ministry to contain the situation at the earliest," Singh tweeted.

 

On December 31, Singh did an aerial survey to take stock of the wildfire that broke out at Dzuko valley in the last week of December 2020. "Conducting an aerial survey to take stock of the wildfire that broke out at Dzuko valley 2-3 days back. The fire has spread quite extensively and caused serious damage to this part of the mountain range. The Fire service, Forest official, and volunteers are reaching the site," Singh had tweeted.

 

Besides, the Manipur government on Saturday said 200 acres of forest land had been damaged in the fire till Saturday.