BARIPADA: The Similipal National Park management on Friday informed that around 28 new fire points were detected in the last 24 hours in the tiger habitat. Meanwhile, the 31 fire points identified on Thursday have been successfully doused.
Regional chief conservator of forests-cum-field director of STR Prakash Chand Gogineni said four fire points were traced in Baripada division, one in Rairangpur, 14 in STR South wildlife division, four in STR North wildlife division, one in Balasore division and four in Keonjhar wildlife division. The fire points were detected by AI satellite monitoring.
Gogineni lauded the efforts of foresters, forest guards, ODRAF, ex-Army personnel and members of Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) in successfully putting out the blaze.
Official sources said since Similipal often faces the challenge of wildfires in summer, the Forest department and ODRAF have mobilised personnel in the national park for effective tackling of such situations. The fire is extinguished with the help of air blowers after which the fire lines are restored, they said.
They said the staff network is strengthened inside the park so as to identify forest fires and take immediate steps to prevent further spread of the blaze. “Besides, a platoon of police personnel are deployed at strategic locations to protect the animals and prevent entry of poachers into the park,” they added.