Fire wrecks oak forest in Shimla, Solan

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 1

The fire has devastated the rare oak forest in the Anandpur forest beat facing the capital city and the Kandaghat forest beat in Solan. Ill-equipped and understaffed fire-fighting teams of the Forest Department were barely adequate to fight the flames that have already consumed more than 100 hectares of forest areas in the district for the past four days.

The fire-fighting teams were virtual spectators to the forest fire in Anandpur and Kandaghat.

The nearby villagers, however, were able to save the villages located on the peripheries of the oak forest.

The Tara Devi shrine atop the oak forest was saved as the Mehli-Tara Devi-Shoghi road prevented the fire from engulfing the nearby forest, said villagers.

Though the Forest Department has yet to assess the total loss caused to the oak and nearby forests, the inputs accessed by The Tribune reveal that more than 100 hectares have already been razed by a recent spell of fires.

The forest fire-fighting team monitored by Conservator of Shimla Alok Nagar pressed into the service fire tenders near the roadside, but the water scarcity and the leaping flames made the operation ineffective.

The fire also broke out in the Kasumpti and Jhinjhir forest areas around the city. The fire incident was also reported from the Chopal forest division.

The smoke billowing out of the burning oak forest enveloped the landscape in the south of the Mashobra forest range, with the fire showing no signs of relenting.

Forest officials were clueless about the cause of fire but they blamed it on the dry spell and the scattered dry oak leaves in the forest.

“The forest team and villagers are trying to control the fire, but the heat and flames continue to pose danger, making it a difficult task”, said Nagar, who has been monitoring the operation for the last four days.

“We have yet to assess the total loss and exact reason behind the forest fire. We have controlled the fire and stopped it from spreading to Tara Devi forest. All efforts are on with the help of villagers as fire tenders cannot reach the spot”, he added.