Massive fire engulfs dense forest in Dharamsala

A massive fire broke out in the forest areas of Dharamsala near the Indrunag temple under the paragliding site on Sunday night engulfing a huge area.

The forest fire has affected thousands of valuable deodar, pine and other varieties of trees and shrubs in the vicinity of Dharamsala and McLeodganj.

The fire spread rapidly in the nearby areas during night. In the morning, though the flames had extinguished, smoke was still visible in the sky at the fire-affected areas. By Monday evening, the smoke vanished from the sky but the locals said that it was still smouldering in the forest areas.

The exact loss to flora and fauna could not be ascertained as yet but according to Karam Chand Kashyap, Station Fire Officer of Dharamsala, 10,000 to 15,000 trees of various varieties and shrubs were damaged by the fire. The possibility of losses to the lives of wild animals and birds also could not be ruled out, if going by the intensity of the fire.

He said fire tenders were rushed to the spot but it was impossible to reach the heights. Their focus was to ensure that it did not spread in the nearby habited areas in the lower areas. “We saved one electricity transformer and a house from burning in the fire with the help of the employees of the Forest Department”, he said.

The fire spread over a large area due to the blowing wind. The local people said that the dry grass helped spread the fire in large areas.

The exact cause of the fire was not immediately known but the locals revealed that those engaged in the business of paragliding might have intentionally ignited the fire to make a safe passage for the paragliders to go down from the hill top.

A local resident on the condition of anonymity revealed that there were possibilities of rain on Sunday evening as the clouds hovered over the sky and those who reportedly triggered the fire might have thought that it could automatically extinguish after some time serving their purpose of making a safe passage for the paragliders to come down.

Tarush Jamwal, a local tourist guide, said such fire incidents in the forest hills do not occur naturally. “I suspect it has been caused intentionally because the fire originated from a height. Later it spread downwards”.

Fire officer Karam Chand Kashyap revealed that the fire occurred either due to negligence or it was intentionally ignited by someone, may be for vested interests.