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Indian authorities use military helicopters to contain massive forest fire in Rajasthan

Xinhua, April 15, 2017 Adjust font size:

Authorities on Saturday sought help of additional military helicopters to contain the raging forest fire in India's western state of Rajasthan, officials said.

The fire broke out in forest area on Friday near Mount Abu in Sirohi district, about 494 km southwest of Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan.

"We have stepped up our efforts and sought additional help from Indian air force, whose choppers are carrying out regular sorties to douse the ranging flames," Abhimanyu Kumar, a senior local government official told Xinhua over telephone from Sirohi. "We hope by the evening we will be able to contain the situation to a large extent."

Kumar said no loss of life or injuries to anyone have been reported in the blaze so far. The affected area, according to him, was not inhabited.

Reports said the fire has spread over several km in the forest.

Mount Abu is a popular hill station in Sirohi district surrounded by forests and offers a relatively cool climate in the ongoing summer. The hill station is thronged by many people including tourists.

Officials said the tourist activities remained unaffected in the area.

Locals said helicopters fitted with bambi-bucket can be seen hovering over the area to carry out firefighting operation. The bambi-bucket is filled with water at Nakki lake in the middle of Mount Abu.

"Apart from helicopter with bambi buckets, our men from the forest department are also putting in manual efforts to prevent fire from spreading close to inhabited areas" Kumar said.

Reports said Indian air force MI-17 helicopters from neighbouring Gujarat state have been pressed into service on the request from local government of Rajasthan.

Officials said the cause of fire was being ascertained.

Last year a massive forest fire killed seven people in Uttarakhand and damaged huge stretches of forest cover in the state. Endit