Major fire in Udhampur forests, locals urge administration to deploy IAF choppers
The fire has caused extensive damage to the forest resources including wildlife in the forest at Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir
A major fire raging in the forests of Darsoo in Udhampur district for the past couple of days has not been controlled fully yet, officials said.
The fire has caused extensive damage to the forest resources including wildlife.
“Darsoo forest lies between Udhampur and Jammu districts. The fire is in the upper reaches where fire brigade tenders cannot reach. The lower rung employees of the forest department and locals are trying to control the blaze,” said Suresh Kumar, a local.
He said that the local population had made a request via media to douse the flames with the help of IAF helicopters.
“It has been three days and the fire has not been fully controlled yet,” he added.
He informed that the fire has spread in a nearly 5 sq km area.
Another local Harvinder Singh said that they urged the administration to seek help from the IAF and deploy helicopters to douse the fire.
The cause of the fire remains undetermined, though some locals suspect it may have been deliberately set by miscreants.
To bolster firefighting efforts, the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) joined local teams on Tuesday but the fire continues to spread, exacerbated by winds.
The forest areas in Kathua and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir were engulfed by fire on Tuesday, causing significant damage to forest wealth. The forest department officials and local residents took several hours to bring the fire under control.
According to the fire service department, there are currently 10 to 13 fire incidents occurring daily in the region, attributed to the rising temperatures.