Days after a forest fire incident at Kharghar hills gutted over a 100 trees and saplings on Tuesday, residents and environmentalists on Saturday approached the police to book unknown miscreants for allegedly causing the blaze.
In a bid to save the remaining saplings planted by the residents from the nearby societies over the years, over 20 volunteers from Sector 35 and other neighbouring areas in Kharghar walked to the hillock to water the plants
Dharmendra Kar, 45, an environmentalist who has been proactive in planting saplings and watering the plants on the hillock, said, “ The incident is very disheartening, the miscreants set trees on fire and we are sure that such incidents will keep happening if we don’t take action. We have approached the Kharghar police station to file a complaint.”
The police have ensured that they would take measures to avoid repetition of such incidents.
Pradeep Tidar, senior police inspector, Kharghar police station said, “The residents had approached us earlier and once the first information report (FIR) is filed we will surely look into it and ensure that such incidents don’t happen again.”
The volunteers of all age group, including senior citizens, will continue to water the plants till the monsoon arrives. Residents’ group and environmentalist keep a close eye on every activity in the area and alert officials in case of any incident.
{{/usCountry}}The volunteers of all age group, including senior citizens, will continue to water the plants till the monsoon arrives. Residents’ group and environmentalist keep a close eye on every activity in the area and alert officials in case of any incident.
{{/usCountry}}After monsoon gets over, the grass and bushes dry up and catch fire easily which spreads very fast. Last year, over a dozen such instances had happened. Fire incidents are a yearly phenomenon which occurs between November and March.
The locals are also planning to organise an awareness session with villagers over the issue.
“We plant saplings as a part of seed bombing activity till now, we have planted many saplings and will definitely try our best to save the plants. We have been trying our best to convert the hill into a complete green patch but we are pushed back by many instances of fire,” said Akash Ranjan, 45 a Kharghar resident. Locals have even put up hand-made posters near the Kharghar hills appealing people not to put fire and protect the forest.