Fire at Chandpai Range in Sundarbans again
The fire that broke out at compartment No 25 under Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans at Napitkhali in Sharonkhola upazila of Bagerhat district on Tuesday afternoon continued blazing as of filing this report yesterday afternoon.Photo: STAR
Fire that broke out for the second time in the compartment No-25 under Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans on Tuesday afternoon could not be tamed as of filing of this report at 5:00pm yesterday. On February 28 this year, fire broke in the same compartment, damaging different trees on over three acres of land of the forest. Shajahan Howladar, a fisherman of Dakkhin Rajapur village adjacent to the forest, saw the fire at around 5:00pm on Tuesday. He rushed to Dhanshagor station to inform the station Officer Abdul Khaleque about the fire incident. The station officer along with two foresters of Gulishakhali and Nangli camps, forest keepers and locals went there and started cutting line of fire to halt its spread. A team of fire service personnel from Morrelganj and Sharankhola upazilas of Bagerhat district is helping the forest department to control the fire. The fire originated from the burning ends of cigarettes smoked by the tree fellers, said DFO (east) Mihir Kumar Dey. One of the forest officials on condition of anonymity said a criminal identified as Abdus Sobhan Khan and his associates were found involved in displacing logs of trees felled without permission of the forest department. A three-member committee headed by Assistant Conservator of Forests Md Khalilur Rahman has been formed to probe the incident. Fire broke out at a place under Dhanshagor station of Sundarban Forest Division on March 20 in 2009. Two days were taken to extinguish the blaze that damaged foliage of over five acres of forest land.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments