AIZAWL, April 25: Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Sunday sought help from the Indian Air Force (IAF) as well as the locals in dousing the major forest fire in Lunglei district and its adjoining areas, officials said.
Officials here said that Zoramthanga has asked the Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo to talk to the IAF authority to urgently deploy helicopters to douse the forest fire which has been rapidly spreading in the adjoining localities and small towns of Lunglei and the adjacent district in southern Mizoram.
Lunglei district’s Deputy Commissioner Kulothungan A said that the blaze was mostly under control by the state’s fire fighters and disaster management personnel accompanied by the locals but the wind is further increasing the fire spread to newer areas.
“There is no casualty in the fire so far. We are unable to assess the gravity and volume of the damages due to the fire right now as we are busy in dousing the inferno,” Deputy Commissioner told IANS.
The Lunglei district blaze is the fifth major forest fire in the four northeastern states – Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram – since January this year.
The Army’s Spear Corps successfully doused a major forest fire at the Bada Kandun Village of Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh earlier this month. The IAF’s two helicopters, disaster management personnel and villagers doused a major forest fire at Shirui peak in Ukhrul district of Manipur in the last month end.
In the mid February Army troops successfully doused a major forest fire in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley district along the China border.In January, the Army, Indian Air Force, National and State Disaster Response Force, local volunteers and administration jointly doused a major wildfire in the famous Dzukou Valley on Nagaland-Manipur borders after two weeks of battle.
The forest fire caused huge damage to the flora and fauna, forest and environment of the Dzukou Valley, which is one of the 10 most beautiful places in the mountainous northeast India.
The Dzukou valley, situated at an altitude of 2,452 metres above the sea level and 30 km from Nagaland capital Kohima, is also a sanctuary for the endangered Blyth’s tragopan – Nagaland’s state bird – and other species of birds and animals.