Students to lead Similipal’s drive against forest fires

BHUBANESWAR: The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) authorities plan to involve school, college and university students in a massive awareness drive in the periphery areas to check forest fires following a huge inferno in March.
The state government had come under severe criticism for the forest fire in Similipal. The plan to check fire mishaps is chalked out in early January so that the peak fire season is well tackled. “We have identified 700 villages vulnerable to forest fire. The involvement of the students in the awareness drive is aimed at expanding the horizon so that the message is penetrated loud and clear. The civil society members will also be involved in a special drive called Similipal Parikrama,” said STR deputy director (north) Sai Kiran. He said 15 colleges will be involved in the special drive meant for sensitising the villagers on forest conservation.
The STR authorities, in their drive, will also involve stakeholders such as eco clubs around the reserve, panchayat members, Van Suraksha Samiti members and self-help groups.
The reserve had to grapple with forest fire in the third week of February and most of March. The field personnel and fire watchers, a dedicated temporary workforce, had to pray to the rain god seeking respite from days of hard work of negotiating the terrain to douse the flames. A woman forester even celebrated in joy after seeing the rain in the forest during the challenging time. The fire reportedly forced some prey animals to leave their habitat to escape the heat and smoke. The rich flora was affected with several shrubs, bushes and small trees damaged in the fire. Although, no crown fire was reported, the ground fire left behind a trail of destruction.
Kiran said educating the villagers will help them gain confidence so that people think twice before causing a fire. Most of the fire incidents in Similipal and elsewhere in Odisha are said to be man-made. The villagers set fire to dry leaves to collect mahua flower that fall on the ground. This leads to massive fire in the forest patches.
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