India
Dzukou burning: Wildfires in Nagaland’s Dzukou Valley finally in control after 10 days
Since December 29th, 2020, the Dzukou Valley on the border of Nagaland and Manipur has been burning.
Since December 29th, 2020, the Dzukou Valley on the border of Nagaland and Manipur has been burning. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said earlier this week that the fire was continuously increasing its magnitude. As per a PTI report, the fire on the Dzukou range is under total control now, but all operations will continue, a Nagaland forest officer stated. The Indian Air Force (IAF), NDRF, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Homa guard, police, and other agencies in the state were involved in battling the fire.
The wildfire has reportedly affected Nagaland's Kohima district and Manipur's Senapati district. The ongoing wildfire is estimated to have destroyed over 200 acres of forest.
#VIDEO IAF MI-17 V5 helicopter refills Bambi Bucket from a lake near Dimapur to douse the fire at Dzouku Valley near Kohima, Nagaland.
— Defence Decode® (@DefenceDecode) January 3, 2021
4 helicopters equipped with Bambi Bucket were deployed yesterday for firefighting mission in Dzukou Valley pic.twitter.com/G3ouBWn2dD
Dzukou Valley is home to several rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, including the state bird of Nagaland Bluth's tragopan. Instances of wildfires in the valley are not uncommon. In 2006, a severe fire had reportedly destroyed 20 kilometres of the forest here.
District Forest Office (DFO) in Senapati district said that from the information gathered from villagers near Nagaland's border, the wildfire might have originated on the Nagaland side, the Indian Express reported.
According to the India State of Forest Report 2019, around 30,000 incidents of forest fires were reported in India in 2019. The report also stated that most of the fire prone areas are found in the north eastern region and the central part of the country. Findings of this report indicate that nearly 4 percent of the country's forest cover is extremely prone to fire, while 6 percent is found to be very highly fire prone. More than 36 percent of the country's forest cover has been estimated to be prone to frequent forest fires.
