Fire destroys forest cover, wildlife in Garhshankar

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Garhshankar, May 23

With fire raging in the forests of a dozen villages, including Kokowal, Harman, Nainwa, Garhi Mansowal, Kot, Barapur, Chak Rautan and Sadarpur sub-division of Garhshankar, forest areas spread over acres has turned to ashes causing loss of wildlife too.

Even today, a fierce fire broke out in villages Kot and Chakk Rautan. The forest department managed to get fire tenders from Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahar and controlled the fire. Since last week, there have been several minor to major fire incidents in which large areas of jungle have turned to ashes. Also due to fire in the woods yesterday, five people had sustained burn injuries with one among them succumbing to burn injuries at the PGIMER in Chandigarh.

But the administration is still to wake up to the gravity of the situation. Even today, in Chakk Rautan, the fire had reached near the slums of migrant labourers. Forest officials led by Jatinder Rana prevented damage to the slums by controlling the fire with difficulty.

Like every year, once again, a large number of trees in the forests of Kandi and Bet area of Garhshankar, have been lost due to frequent fire incidents. Due to the fumes and smoke coming from the fire affected areas, respiratory problems are also on the rise accompanied by a rise in temperature and pollution.

The biggest problem confronting officials of the forest department is that in case of a fire outbreak, the Fire Brigade has to be called in from Hoshiarpur or Nawanshahar. It takes one and a half hours for the fire tenders to reach and by then the fire completely takes the forest in its grip. The demand for providing fire tenders in Garhshankar has been there for some time but the administration is yet to take cognisance of the demand.

Convener of the Voice of the People, an NGO, Ajaib Singh Boparai and co-convener Rakesh Kumar said fire in the forests results in destruction of green cover and wildlife. In a mishap yesterday, four youths were seriously injured while a young man died due to burn injuries sustained in a fire outbreak. The families of the deceased and the injured should be compensated, said the residents. Besides, a fire brigade should be set up immediately in Garhshankar.

Divisional Forest Officer, Garhshankar, Vikas Chauhan said, “The fire in jungles is erupting due to the negligence of the people. The people should not smoke beedi or cigarette and throw their pellets on the grass. Also, they should not set fire to the grass. Fire lines are made in government forests, but most of the forest in Garhshankar is on private land. Even then, our officers make all efforts to control the fire by reaching the spot as soon as they get the information.”

1 dead, 4 hurt in Tuesday incident 

Since last week, there have been several minor to major fire incidents in which large areas of jungle have turned to ashes. Due to fire in the woods on Tuesday, five people had sustained burn injuries. One of them died at the PGI in Chandigarh.