Over 1,000 hectares of Purna may have been affected, thousands
of animals killed.
At about the same time as four Naxalites were arrested from Surat, more than 1,000 hectares of pristine forest in the Purna wildlife sanctuary in the Dangs district was burning like matchsticks.
While there are widespread fears that the Naxalites, who have been trying to gain a foothold in the area, could be behind this incident, government officials attribute the conflagration to “miscreants who have been wanting to grab the attention of senior officials....”
SK Nanda, principal secretary, forest and environment, blamed local anti-social elements for the fire. “They set off the fire just to attract the attention of higher authorities,” he said. “They want the authorities to take action against forest officials against whom they have several grievances.”
Forest officials put the damage at merely 100 hectares, in “the biggest forest fire to have broken out in the district in the last 50 years”, and denied any Naxal hand in the incident which took place on Friday. The forest officials, however, blamed local anti-social elements who want to grab forest land, for the fire, though local sources said that they suspected leftwing extremists of starting the devastating conflagration.
Purna, one of the densest forest areas in the country, is famous for its bio-diversity and a variety of wild animals such as leopard, common mongoose, Indian porcupine and four-horned antelope. These animals can be spotted in the sanctuary which is located in Ahwa taluka of the district.
A large number of birds and wild animals may have been killed in the fire. Thousands of bamboo and plants may have also been destroyed. According to forest officials, the fire has now been brought under control.
“The fire damaged around 100 hectares of forest land in the sanctuary and another 47 hectares were damaged during fire-fighting operations,” said divisional forest officer (North Dangs), CK Sonwane. “Many wild animals, including birds and reptiles, may have been killed.”
Sonwane said he had never seen such a massive forest fire in his life. “The situation is now under control but I must say that it was one of the biggest forest fires in the Dangs in the last 50 years.” He added that the last such fire had broken out in the district in 1956.
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