Forest fire damages green gold; triggers mine explosions on LoC

Rajouri, Jan 27: Twelve incidents of forest fires across the Poonch district in the last two weeks have damaged green gold, in an expanse of around forty kanals in four locations.

Forest officials, at the moment, see hope in the forecast of rainfall in the days to come. “Good spell of rainfall may bring down the forest fire incidents,” they hope.

“During the last two months, there has been no rainfall in the area. The prolonged dry season has caused severe dryness in the forest bed, making it highly vulnerable vis-a-vis fire incidents,” they opine.

As per an official figure, forest fire incidents have taken place at four different forest locations in Poonch district in the last two weeks.

These areas included the Mandi forest area; Saujiyan forest stretch; Dehra Ki Gali forest area and Nar-Bhata Dhurian forest stretch.

Official data revealed that as many as 12 different forest fire incidents were reported in these four forest areas in the last two weeks, causing massive damage to the green gold and also triggering a few mine explosions on the Line of Control (LoC).

“The fire incidents ravaged around 40 kanal of forest area in these locations. The range of damage due to fire was from moderate to high intensity,” it revealed.

Assistant Director Forest Protection Force, Masood Choudhary, when contacted, said, “The exact figure of forest damage cannot be assessed at this point.”

“It is difficult to assess the exact volume of damage in terms of area as DKG, Nar, Bhata Dhurian forests are very dense. It is almost impossible for the staff to enter there to assess the damage,” he said.

However, he added, approximately 40 kanal of forest area was damaged in these fire incidents.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a fresh fire incident was reported in the Nar forest area. The locals and forest staff were working hard to douse the flames.

Locals said, “The fire erupted in the area on Saturday evening and engulfed several kanals of the forest belt, causing widespread damage to the green gold canopy.”

Efforts to control fire flames were being made when last reports poured in, they said.