BHUBANESWAR: A major fire in the northern sector of Chilika lake, which kept burning for nearly three days and destroyed over five hectare of reed swamp, has raised serious concerns over the protection of the lagoon’s rich and eco-sensitive biodiversity.
The fire engulfed the Nala grass patch and was doused on Saturday morning by Fire Services and Forest department personnel. While the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, officials from the Chilika wildlife division suspect it to be manmade.
The Forest Department authorities have intensified drone patrolling and surveillance in the region to prevent any further flare-ups. “The fire was detected on Thursday. It was brought fully under control early morning on Saturday after two-and-half days of continuous efforts. We suspect it to be manmade as the area witnesses continuous movement of boats for fishing,” divisional forest officer of Chilika wildlife division Amlan Nayak said.
Nayak said the blaze was detected on a stretch of Nala grass, a common, tall reed species found extensively in and around the lake between Bhusandpur and Balipatapur channel. It spread rapidly and covered five to six hectare of the region as the uppermost part of the grass patch had become dry in the summer heat with low waterlevel. Fire officials and forest fire teams of Chilika division struggled to reach the fire points due to shallow water, mud and wide presence of water hyacinth (Raja Dala).
The height of Nala grass, that typically grow to a height of up to 15 feet, was another major challenge, he said. “Keeping this in view, two drones were deployed to identify the area covered with the blaze. About 20 to 25 forest staff, two forest fire squads including a Nala grass fire squad, from Tangi range and fire services personnel were involved in dousing the flames and containing the spread,” Nayak informed.
The northern sector of Chilika, a Ramsar site, is exceptionally rich in biodiversity. Apart from being home to a number of bird species, the sector serves as a vital ecological habitat for the fishing cats. Forest officials said Nala grass has been vulnerable to fire hazards in the lagoon during summer, with dry patches often accidentally or intentionally set on fire, requiring constant monitoring. They claimed that some of the boatmen could have set these patches on fire either to create a channel for their movement or to catch fish. It could also be an act of miscreants.
Last year, the Chilika division had arrested four persons for allegedly setting the grass on fire. However, this time the scale was massive and took more time to contain due to long distance of some of the fire points that exceeded 2-3 km from the nearby channels, making it extremely difficult for the water sprayers to reach out.
With the fire raising concerns over protection of the biodiversity of Chilika lagoon in the northern sector, officials said they have intensified the drone patrolling. “Drone monitoring is being carried out rigorously to track the movement of the boats, while the forest fire teams are also on high alert in the region to prevent recurrence of such incident. Probe is also underway to identify and apprehend those involved,” the DFO said.