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Indian Air Force choppers pressed into service to douse forest fire near Vaishno Devi shrine
Massive operation was launched by the Forest department and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board officials to douse the flames.
Updated : May 25, 2018, 05:30 AM IST
 "Forest fire in Katra")
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Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers were pressed into service to douse the massive forest fire on the Trikuta hills near the revered Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine on Thursday.
After massive operations, the fire was brought under control, which enabled the officials to resume the Yatra to holy cave shrine. More than 50 hectares of the forest area were affected by the forest fire in the hills.
Massive operation was launched by the Forest department and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board officials to douse the flames. The Shrine Board had suspended the Yatra as a precautionary measure.
IAF pressed into service its MLH class helicopter using Bambi Buckets, to contain the forest fire at Katra. The operations stared on Thursday morning wherein two helicopters, one each of the Daring Dragons and of Snow Leopards units, of the Western Air Command were launched.
The helicopters filled in water from the Reasi water reservoir in the specially built Bambi Buckets which can carry approximately 2500 ltrs of water at a time.
The first drop was done in the area of new track from Ardhkuwari to Bhawan. "It was a daunting task keeping in mind the challenging terrain and high tension cables in the area" said Wing Commander Vikram, captain of the lead aircraft.
The recce of the area was carried out on Wednesday to ascertain the complexities of the operations. Experts said operation of these types requires special skills by the pilot who flies with a very heavy load under-slung.
"We trained to respond to these types of situations whenever demanded. The operations are scheduled to continue through the day till the fire is contained" said Wing Commander Rahul, captain of the second aircraft.
Shehzad Chowdhary, divisional forest officer, Reasi, said the fire has been fully controlled and there is no loss of life or property. "Around 50 hectares of land was affected by the fire. We have controlled the fire. There is no loss of property. It was a ground fire and there is no loss of any forest property", he said.
