Panaji: The wildfires have kept the State authorities on its toes. Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane, in his updated bulletin, revealed that seven forest fires are still active in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and other areas.
The bulletin released just a while ago mentions that Satrem, Derodem, Anmod Ghat, Sigao-Kalay, Karemol-Kalay, Potrem, Netravali and Dharbandora spread to Ponda have one case of forest fire each as of 2pm today.
One forest fire at Ponda has been doused in a joint exercise carried out by State disaster management authority, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
As many as 797 officials and local youth are deployed around the fire sites to ensure the wildlife or humans are not affected whilst also, the situation is brought under control without any further damage to the ecology.
The minister, who has been holding marathon meetings with the defense forces and the forest officials, informed that Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Rajiv Gupta and Acting AP-CCF Saurabh Kumar will conduct an aerial survey of the fire-hit forests.
“The Navy and the Air Force are fully supporting us, and they have been working hard to handle the situation in coordination with the Forest Department,” Rane said.
Admitting that the flames are consuming Goa’s forested cover, Rane hailed a group of youth from Morlem and the forest department for contributing to the government’s efforts to put out the fire. He also stated that to ensure the safety of forests and wildlife, the firefighters and the forest department have climbed difficult hills and traveled for miles. The Valpoi residents are alerting the authorities in case of fires.
As of last night, five forest fires were active. The authorities claim that fires are reoccurring due to windy conditions though Goa is reeling under heatwave.
