Forest worker dies saving ‘green gold’ in Verinag woods

Srinagar, Dec 7: A forest orderly of the Verinag Forest Range died on Sunday while trying to control a forest fire in the Kapran area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

The incident has once again brought into focus how frontline forest staff continue to battle flames without proper firefighting equipment.

The deceased, Gull Mohammad Shah, 54, was part of a firefighting team in Compartment 48 of the Hengipora Range when he slipped nearly 50 meters down a steep slope while moving away from advancing flames.

He was shifted to the Government Medical College, Anantnag, where doctors declared him dead.

Shah, a resident of Changoo, Verinag, had been fighting the fire for two days.

Relatives said he had returned home around 3 AM in the morning after firefighting work and left again in the morning.

“He didn’t think about his own safety,” a relative said. “He only worried about saving the forest.”

A pall of gloom descended on his village as his body reached home. Shah is survived by his wife, an 18-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter.

He had served the Forest Department for nearly 30 years and was expecting a promotion to forest guard soon, relatives said.

Colleagues described him as hardworking and committed.

“He was always on the front,” fellow worker Showkat Ahmad said. “We used to tell him to stay back, but he would go ahead.”

Shah’s death has drawn attention to the difficulties faced by forest field staff, who say they are forced to fight fires with very basic tools.

“We don’t even have gloves,” a casual labourer said. “Most of us just tie a cloth over our mouths and use sticks and spades.”

Another employee said there is no fire-resistant clothing or breathing equipment. “When the fire spreads suddenly, we just run,” he said.

An official admitted the department faces an acute shortage of equipment.

“We don’t have fire beaters, hooks, gumboots, fire blankets, fire-resistant suits or breathing gear,” the official said. “Even extinguishers are not available.”

Forest officials said there has been a surge in forest fires in many areas because of prolonged dry weather and human activity inside forests.

Large areas of pine forests have been damaged in south and north Kashmir over the past two weeks, they said.

Employees said the steep terrain and sudden changes in wind direction often put them in dangerous situations.

“What happened in Verinag can happen anywhere,” a forest employee said.

Senior forest officers, including the conservator of forests (South), the divisional forest officer (DFO) Anantnag and the range officer Verinag visited the bereaved family and attended the funeral.

They described Shah as a dedicated worker who served the department with sincerity for decades.

“He died protecting the green gold,” an officer said. “We have lost a committed field man who did his duty till the end.”