Forest fires in Odisha: ‘Rain eases situation, no requirement of helicopters’

Finally it was the rain gods which provided the much-needed relief and eased the situation which was aggravating on account of the raging wildfires in several forests of Odisha.

PCCF Odisha, Debidutta Biswal on Friday informed that rain has certainly eased the overall forest fire situation in the state.

From 1700 to 1800 forest fire points, it has now come down to 100 to 200 in the past few days. “In the last two days, rain and cloudy weather has reduced occurrences. As forest fires in Odisha are mostly on the ground level, there is no need of roping in helicopters which are mainly used in crown fires in which big trees catch fire,” said Biswal.

According to Biswal, the main concern of the department is to create awareness among people and taking action against those who are setting forests on fire.

So far, 60 cases have been registered against such violations, he said. Biswal further informed that the success rate in dousing the forest fires is almost 98 per cent. Moreover, an action plan is being prepared to prevent the forest fires in the state, he added.

(Reported by Kapilendra Pradhan)