Correspondent
KOHIMA, FEBRUARY 4
THE wildfire at Mount Japfü, which was reported to have been brought under control on Monday, is yet to be fully contained as the fire on Tuesday continued to spread towards south and south-west.
Sources said the wildfire still has the danger of spreading further along with the wind. An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter has joined the efforts to control and douse the fire. The chopper has been flying several sorties carrying water from Padampukhri, Dimapur to the wildfire area to douse the flames and bring it under control. Another helicopter is expected to join the efforts tomorrow.
The State government through the Home department has also released an amount of Rs 2 lakh to meet immediate expenses in the fire fighting efforts. This was informed by Home Commissioner Temjen Toy who also said the district administration is working in close coordination with all the volunteers and government agencies involved in the efforts. The volunteers of neighbouring villages, personnel of Forest department, Nagaland State Disaster Management Agency (NSDMA), Assam Rifles, IRB, IAF, etc. are battling the inferno.
Talking to this reporter, DFO Kohima, Sidramatta Chalkapure said Tuesday being a windy day, the fire continued to spread along with the force of the wind.
“The fire calmed down yesterday with the sunset and along with the chill, but it started to spread again during day time today,” the DFO said. He also informed that a monitoring team would be assigned tomorrow to the spot where the fire flames are still at risk of spreading further.
“Tomorrow, we are expecting more of aerial service than ground management,” he said.
Commander of the 164 INF Bn H(n)H NAGA, Govind Singh said more ground force will go up even tomorrow. He informed that around 20 villagers from Kigwema village and army personnel from his regiment will be in service.
Talking to Eastern Mirror, he said the fire is still smoldering in some areas but without flames. He said the fire towards south west couldn’t be contained till this evening and fire at two points towards Kigwema village are at risk of spreading further. However, Dzükou valley is out of danger, he said.
“If westerly wind blows, we are apprehensive that it will carry the flames down the slope towards Khonoma village,” the Colonel cautioned adding that he is integrating his jawans and communication sets for the volunteers.
SAYO president Kekhruhol Mekro said all the volunteers from southern region who were camping at the spot have returned home, but said around 15-20 volunteers will be in service tomorrow to assist the Forest department. It was informed that around 90 volunteers were engaged in the fire fight today.
WAYO vice president Seyielhoukho Sechü informed that around 40 volunteers from Jotsoma village are still camping on the western side to thwart any untoward happenings.
Water lifted from Dimapur for Japfü blaze
IMAGINE waking up to the sound of a helicopter right over your roof and to see one with a rope dangling out of its centre holding a huge red barrel.
That is what residents of Padumpukhri woke up to, this Tuesday morning. The morning got even more strange as the helicopter dropped the barrel into the ‘pukhri’ pond as if fishing for the Loch Ness Monster.
By this time the curious crowd of onlookers had grown to such numbers causing a traffic congestion along the National Highway as people halted their cars to have some shots of the Monster Chopper from their mobile phones.
The sight set into motion a flurry of guessing games amongst the onlookers. Some said the chopper was trying to fish out ‘arms’ from the lake; others were of the opinion that it was fishing out ‘something very valuable’. Still, some others said it was fetching water.
The last came out to be true. The (IAF) helicopter was fetching water for dousing the fire in Mt Japfu.
The helicopter flown by Wing Commander, Yadav and his crew joined the efforts to control and douse the forest fire at Mt. Japfu area.
The chopper took several sorties carrying water from Padampukhri, Dimapur to the wildfire area to douse the flames and bring it under control.
