Gaighat, March 14

Three days on, wildfire in the Phuljor area of Mahabharat Community Forest in Udayapur is yet to be controlled.

According to local Tejendra Chaudhary, the wildfire has alarmed locals as it is advancing towards the human settlement.

“It started from the north of the forest but is now spreading towards the southeast, so, the nearby village is at risk,” he said.

Assistant forest officer at Udayapur District Forest Office Lalbabu Yadav informed that attempts to douse the fire were under way.

“The forest fire is raging, but we aren’t staying idle either as forest officials, in cooperation with officials and users of Mahabharat area as well as the nearby Deurali community forest, are working to douse the blaze,” he said.

Meanwhile, though forest fires are quite normal in community and national forests of the district during summer and the concerned forest office has been spending millions of rupees controlling such fires every year, the efforts have yielded no tangible results so far.

“We’re doing the needful to prevent such fires, but locals and pedestrians, knowingly or unknowingly, ignite fire in the forest,” said Yadav, adding, “Forest fires have been reported in over a dozen community forests in the east and western parts of the district.”