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‘Man-made’: Goa orders detailed probe into wildlife sanctuary fires
According to officials, the forest fires that were first noticed at one location within the Satrem village of the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary nearly seven days ago soon spread to other locations within the same sanctuary while simultaneously fires erupted in several other sanctuaries, including the Mollem and Netravali
Described as the worst forest fires, Goa is fighting 11 different wildfires currently active within the wildlife sanctuaries of the state– that cover the hill ranges of the Western Ghats– even as state forest minister Vishwajit Rane said the department was doing “all it takes to extinguish the fire.”
“The forest department has continued its battle to completely extinguish the fire. There are 11 active flames at the moment, and 512 people are working to put them out,” Rane said on Friday.
By Thursday evening, seven fires remained active, which have now increased to 11 and only two active fires were doused on Friday.
The fires are raging amidst an ongoing heatwave in Goa, which forced the Goa government to direct schools to shut early, officials said.
Also Read: Fire in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary ‘under control’ after 3 days: Goa minister
Meanwhile, the Goa government has ordered a detailed probe into the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary fire bordering Karnataka, claiming the fires appeared to be “man-made.”
Earlier on March 8, forest minister Rane said a detailed inquiry was ordered into wildlife sanctuary fires and claimed that this was a man-made fire.
“This is a man-lit fire. There seems to be no other explanation. We have discussed it a lot and the report will come,” Rane said.
The fires have stubbornly refused to die down despite the department involving the help of local volunteers, the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, who deployed aerial firefighting vehicles to help douse the flames.
After a series of forest fires began, the state government requested the assistance of the Indian Navy for choppers to douse the flames.
According to officials, the forest fires that were first noticed at one location within the Satrem village of the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary nearly seven days ago soon spread to other locations within the same sanctuary while simultaneously fires erupted in several other sanctuaries, including the Mollem and Netravali.
The fires have reduced large tracts of Western Ghats forests to ashes, as well as, have ranged through acres of cashew plantations at a time when farmers were gearing up to harvest a bumper crop.
Also Read: 54,800 hectares of forest cover destroyed by wildfires in Uttarakhand since 2000
According to the forest department, a total of 48 fires were reported since March 5th in forests, private lands, comunidade (common lands) areas, and private forests across the state.
Goa, much like the rest of the country, has been witnessing above-average temperatures since February, with the maximum temperature ranging between five to seven degrees above normal for this time of the year.
According to the Met Department, the ongoing weather anomaly is “because of the strengthening of easterly winds, clear sky conditions and delay in setting time of sea breeze,” conditions which are expected to continue at least until March 15.
On Friday, Goa witnessed a maximum temperature of 36°C which is 3.6 degrees above normal while the minimum temperature was 21.5°C which is 11 degrees below normal for this time of the year.
