Dzükou fire ‘extinguished’; fire-fighting equipment airlifted from base camp

Our Correspondent
Dimapur, Jan. 11 (EMN): The efforts of personnel from various government agencies and volunteers to douse the raging fire near Dzükou Valley had paid off as it has been fully contained and demobilisation exercise has begun following the successful operation. 

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, divisional forest officer (DFO) Kohima, Rajkumar M said that there was no report of any active fire or smoke for the past three days.

“The Dzükou Valley is totally safe from the fire, now,” said Rajkumar.

He added that the joint efforts of government agencies and volunteers for the last 13 days managed to reduce the damage that could be caused by the fire near the scenic valley.

De-induction begins

The officials overseeing the Dzükou fire operation have decided to de-induct all the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters deployed to douse the inferno and demobilise five NDRF teams on Tuesday, as no fresh fire was reported in and around the valley by both the ground and air teams for the past few days.

The decision was taken during the co-ordination and de-briefing meeting held in connection with Dzükou fire at the office of Home Commissioner Nagaland, Abhijit Sinha, on Monday, according to an update by DPRO Kohima.

SDO Kohima, Daniel Angami reported from Dzükou base camp that de-induction of ground operation team was conducted on Monday with the IAF airlifting fire-fighting equipment of NDRF and SDRF stationed at the base camp to Jakhama Military Helipad in one sortie earlier in the day.

The fire-fighting equipment included NDRF tents, fire-fighting suits, batteries, generators, and NSDMA lighting tower, according to the update.

However, it was decided at the meeting to continue to station DEF Kohima, Forest department and Sayo volunteers at the base camp for a few days to keep a watch and monitor the situation.

“The meeting reviewed the entire operation of Dzükou forest fire which have been extinguished and appreciated all the concerned agencies for assisting in dousing the Dzükou forest fire,” read the update.

It was informed that the meeting was chaired by the home commissioner and attended by officials like Commandant NDRF, Rajesh Thakur; DC Kohima, Mohammed Ali Shihab A; SP Kohima, Manoj Kumar; DFO Kohima, Raj Kumar; and ADC Kohima, Lithrongla Tongpi Rutsa.