Dzükou Valley fire: No end in sight as blaze continues to spread

Our Correspondent
Dzükou, Jan. 6 (EMN): The Dzükou Valley wildfire, which appeared to have subsided to some extent with the intervention of scores of fire-fighters and volunteers, is said to be “fast-spreading” towards Peren-Kohima border.

It is learned that more manpower from Central and government agencies as well as civil organisations will be deployed to fight the fire that has reportedly increased its magnitude after showing signs of subsiding.

Johnny Ruangmei, OSD, Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA), informed Eastern Mirror that three new teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Dimapur on Wednesday.

In addition to this, personnel from the Police, Home Guards and Civil Defence have been deployed to assist the contingents grappling with the fire, which is raging close to Dzükou Valley, a tourist hotspot and home to varied species of flora and fauna.

The officer also apprised that they are awaiting the response from the Ministry of Defence for requisition of two more helicopters to carry out more sorties to douse the inferno.

“We have already done the reinforcement,” Ruangmei said, adding that the fire seemed to be “moving more”.

He went on to inform that equipment like fire extinguishers and other essential supplies such as rations, blankets etc., have been dropped via helicopters from Jakhama army camp to douse the fire.

Southern Angami Youth Organisation (Sayo) president, Zakieleto Tsükrü also informed that local guides will chip in to assist the government agencies deployed in and around the scenic valley.

He said that without ‘volunteers and local guides, the contingents are finding difficult to contain the fire’, adding that Sayo will deploy more volunteers to the camping site.

Now, with coordinated efforts, the contingents including six NDRF teams along with scores of personnel from Nagaland Police including Home Guards and Civil Defence and District Executive Force (DEF), Kohima Forest Division (KFD) and Sayo volunteers with six Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters will tackle the inferno.

The chief minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, had on Tuesday made an aerial survey of the Dzükou fire to assess the damages and oversee the operation works. Personnel from government agencies and volunteers have been braving the cold and tirelessly working to contain the fire since it broke out on December 29.