Fire raging through Sundarbans

Firefighters from the Morrelganj station were trying unsuccessfully to control the blaze, the second in this area in 17 days, at the time of filing this report at 4pm yesterday. Locals spotted flames in Abdullah Shila in the morning and informed the Forest Department, Chadpai Range Officer Gazi Matiar Rahman said. Forest Department officials and local inhabitants have been cutting firebreaks, gaps made in the vegetation that may prevent the fire from spreading, since the morning, he said. Fire Service Morrelganj Station’s Station Officer Swapan Kumar Bhakta, who is on the spot, said smoke had filled the 5-6 acres of area where the fire was burning. “There are three units fighting the blaze right now,” he said. Sundarbans expert Sheikh Fadirul Islam, the chairman of Save the Sundarbans Foundation, said the consecutive forest fires were a great threat to the biodiversity of the forest. He pointed out that the government had no effective policy to prevent fires from spreading in the Sundarbans. Earlier on the evening of March 27, a fire broke out in another area near Nangli forest camp. Firefighters managed to bring the fire under control by the morning of March 28.