Sundarban fire: Water is being sprayed at any sight of smoke

The Fire Service is sprinkling water on dried leaves and soil to prevent the blaze from spreading further

Water is being sprayed wherever plumes of smoke can be seen at Amarbunia, an area located within the Chandpai range of Sundarbans' eastern zone in Bagerhat. Additional precautions are being taken to prevent further spread of the forest fire.

Five units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence started the fire-extinguishing effort at 7am on Monday, with help from the Forest Department, navy and local villagers.

Saidul Alam Chowdhury, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service’s Baherhat office, said, “Five firefighting units from Bagerhat and Khulna have been working to douse the fire in the Sundarbans since Sunday morning. No fire or smoke is visible now in at least 80 percent of the forest area.”

“Despite that, we (the Fire Service) will work throughout the day. We are spraying water on dried leaves and soil to prevent further spread of the blaze. We will decide in the evening if we need to do more work.”

Forest Conservator Mihir Kumar Dey of the Forest Department’s Khulna office had previously said, “The Fire Service resumed work early on Monday. No large plumes of fire or smoke are visible inside the forest now, but smoke can still be seen in a few places. The Fire Service is spraying water to douse them.”

"Since the forest fire spreads below the ground, the fire site will be kept under close observation for another two or three days,” he added.

The Forest Department, along with the local villagers, started efforts to extinguish the fire after it started in the forest on Saturday afternoon. The Fire Service and Civil Defence joined the efforts at 6am on Sunday with six fire pumps operated through a relay system. The pumps were installed on boats anchored at the canal next to the forest.

The Navy, Coast Guard and the locals joined in on the fire extinguishing effort, spraying water throughout the day. An Air Force helicopter also splashed water inside the forest.

The Fire Service, Navy and Coast Guard declared an end to the fire extinguishing efforts around 5:30pm on the first day.

The Forest Department said the blaze spread over an area of four acres, but could not determine the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage.