JAIPUR: Large-scale efforts are being made to douse a major fire that erupted inside the Sariska National Park in Rajasthan's Alwar district on Monday.
The fire has engulfed an area of 10 sq km but fortunately, tigers in the park are said to be safe though a large amount of the forest has been badly burnt. Beside ground efforts, two Indian Air Force helicopters which arrived on Tuesday morning have been trying to extinguish the fire that has been raging for over 24 hours now.
Forest officials said that more than 200 people, including the staff and villagers of the three ranges of Sariska, Alwar and Dausa are engaged in dousing the fire.
A fire broke out in the hills of Baleta Prithvipura Naka on Sunday that was soon put out with the help of villagers. On Monday, however, fire broke out again due to strong winds and gradually spread rapidly by Tuesday.
According to Sudershan Sharma, district forest officer in Sariska, said, "Our forest staff with the help of villagers has been working hard to douse the fire over the past two days. It started from Kalighati area and has spread till Narandi area covering an area of over 9 sq km. We are trying to douse the fire before it reaches the valley area in the sanctuary. A lot of grass and salar trees have been burnt so far but other losses will be clear only after the fire is extinguished."
Help was also sought from the army and two helicopters were pressed into service on Tuesday morning to douse the fire. Many villages of Sariska have also been evacuated. The IAF helicopters are bringing water from Silisedh lake and over 50 thousand litres of water has already been sprayed to extinguish the fire.
Additional Collector of Alwar, Sunita Pankaj said that they are focusing on saving tigers and other wild animals in the area close to the fire. She remarked, "Since the fire has spread rapidly, we have pressed in helicopters to douse the flames. We are bringing in water and spraying it, particularly in areas which have a lot of wild animals like tigers."
Forest officials say that there is possibility that wildlife animals could move to the areas with human population. Malakheda police station officials are alerting people residing in or near jungle. The cause of the blaze, which erupted on Monday evening and has been burning an area of around 10 sq km, is yet to be ascertained.
No harm to big cats
Tiger movement in the area has been affected by the fire and forest officials said so far there is no information about any big cats being engulfed in the fire. The Sariska Tiger Reserve currently has 27 tigers