Bhubaneswar: The forest fire situation in Odisha including Similipal is totally contained and there is no continuous fire in the State, informed Chief of Task Force On Forest Fire Sandeep Tripathi on Sunday.
In a press briefing, Tripathi said that the forest fire in the state including the Similipal Biosphere Reserve Forest has been totally contained and controlled due to immediate & proactive steps taken by Odisha Government to check & control forest fire and massive inhibited support of local communities who have come all out and assisted the forest officials in fire extinguishing in the field.
However, considering that the major fire season is still left and fire activity increases with the rise in the temperature after the onset of summer season, the Field officials have been directed to be on full alert & vigil to prevent any proliferation of fire in their areas, said Tripathi.
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#ForestFireTaskForceOdisha 14.03.21
Forest fire situation is State including in Simlipal totally under control. Considering long fire season ahead community engagement, patrolling & full alert continued.@CMO_Odisha @BKArukha @ForestDeptt @moefcc @pccfodisha @PCCFWL_Odisha pic.twitter.com/tYyZwWa8Pb— Sandeep Tripathi, IFS (@sandeepifs) March 14, 2021
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According to a press note from the Office of PCCF, Odisha, the RCCFs & DFOs have been advised to be in constant touch with the District administration to get their continued support in fire mitigation & to mobilise local community/ VSS EDC & PRI Institutions in fire mitigation & management.
The monitoring of fire fighting efforts of field officials, including night patrolling is being monitored 24×7 by the FITGC Cell of PCCF office. The field Officials upto beat Guard has been directed to immediately attend to the real-time satellite-based forest fire alert points received from FSI, Dehradun and douse and upload the photos of the attended forest fire point in their GPS PDA or official mobile for online monitoring of the fire preparedness and response of different field formations by the Headquarters. The response of field to field officials is more than 95%. As of now as per FSI Alerts information, there are no ongoing continuous fire point in the State.
The augmented manpower & infrastructure is effectively deployed/redeployed in the field to continue mitigating prevailing fire situation in the State effectively, particularly in identified VAs (Vulnerable Areas) & Hot Spots.
The 8 ODRAF teams with 25 members along with Fire Officials are being actively engaged in dousing forest fire along with forest staff.
The State Government/ Task Force is on continuous Monitoring & reviewing the prevailing fire situation with field officials which have been brought now totally under control, the press note further read.
