A fire that broke out in the Amurbunia area of the Sundarbans’ East Zone has been brought under control after 26 hours.
Conservator of Forests for Khulna region Mihir Kumar Doe confirmed this information on Sunday afternoon.
He said volunteers, forest guards, the fire service, the navy, the coast guard and a helicopter of the air force were involved in fire-dousing efforts.
“Even after forest fires are usually extinguished, they can re-emerge in some places. That is why the Forest Department, along with the fire service, will work on Monday as well,” he added.
He said all passes and permits to enter the forests of the Jiudhar forest station area have been cancelled.
Kazi Nurul Karim, divisional forest officer (DFO) of East Sundarbans Forest Division, said the exact cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained.
A three-member committee has been formed to probe into the fire.
The fire broke out in the Sundarbans at around 3pm on Saturday.
Forest Department and fire service personnel reached the spot but could not start fire control work due to adverse conditions.
On Sunday morning, five units of the fire service along with the navy, coast guard and a helicopter of the air force were involved in extinguishing the fire in the Sundarbans.