Nagaland Fire Service issues warning against burning forests

Dimapur: As a massive wildfire rages through various locations in Wokha, the Nagaland Fire and Emergency Services department on Wednesday warned against the indiscriminate burning of forests by hunters, campers, and miscreants in the state during the dry windy season.

The department said indiscriminate burning of forest continues to exist despite the best efforts rendered by it and village volunteers with the support of the district administration and police to counter the forest fire from reaching the residential areas.

The state has witnessed 114 cases of forest fires within a span of two-and-half months (approx) with Kohima district alone accounting for 67 cases, which is a serious concern, said the department.

The department reiterated that it cannot attend to all forest fires unless it is alarming near the human settlement areas.

It said the state government, district administration and forest department had been issuing notifications from time to time regarding the total banning of forest fires and their consequences on the ecological balance.

The department also urged the public and village councils to take proactive measures to nab the culprits and take action against miscreants who set fire to forests as per law.

Meanwhile, according to reports, a wildfire that started in Wokha on March 17 continued to spread to various locations such as the cliff between Humtso and Yikhum village, Humtso-Wokha road and near the PMGSY rest camp.

Wokha District Disaster Management Authority chairman and deputy commissioner Vineet Kumar said that the high wind speed had made it difficult to contain the blaze that had spread in all directions.

He said the authority has designated a sub-divisional officer (civil) as the incident commander to oversee the coordination between different departments and manage the situation effectively.