Army, Assam Rifles join hands with IAF to douse Dzukou Valley forest fire

Army and Assam Rifles are assisting the Indian Air Force (IAF) and other agencies to douse the forest fire in Dzukou Valley, a picturesque trekking site on Nagaland-Manipur border, which broke out on Tuesday.

Four Mi-17 helicopters of the IAF equipped with Bambi buckets continued their efforts on Sunday and sprayed waters on the hills but the fire could not be doused till evening. The operation will resume on Monday morning.

The fire broke out on Tuesday on the Nagaland side at Dzukou, situated atop 2452-meter and it started spreading towards Manipur. The fire was raging so much that it could be seen from Nagaland capital Kohima, situated about 30km away.

NDRF and IAF choppers were called in on Friday.

Defence spokesperson based in Guwahati, Lt. Col. P. Khongsai said Spear Corps of the army was working hand in hand with various central and state organisations and tackling the problem in a synchronised manner. "The Army and Assam Rifles are providing all possible assistance to the NDRF teams in terms of accommodation, tentage and logistics so that they can execute their tasks to their full efficiency. The army is also providing its aviation base for launch of Bambi bucket operations and coordinating ground support, air traffic control, air space management as well as other logistic support to the IAF," he said.

Firefighters of Manipur managed to control the forest fire at eastern side spreading from Mount Khungho towards Mao but it could not be controlled at the southern side. This forced Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to seek help of union home minister Amit Shah.

Manipur government on Saturday said 200 acres of forest land had been damaged in the fire till Saturday.