Fire rages in Bandhavgarh, Wildlife Trust of India team on field
   Date :23-May-2023

Fire rages in Bandhavgarh 
 
 
Staff Reporter
A wildfire has threatened to cause massive damages to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), prompting the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department to deploy entire field staff to douse it. BTR is one of the largest biospheres of India but unfortunately it is raging in fire at least for past 12 days. The fire that broke out in core zone and some isolated places of the park has spread to three major ranges and is raging. According to local sources, Pator range that comes under core zone is also raging in fire. 2 km of area under Dobha beat of Bamera and Patihara jungle under Manpur has been burnt into fire.
The fire broke out in vast area and field staff of forest department proved a very small before the task to douse the fire. Hati Mitra Dal (elephant friend team) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) member Pushpendra Nath Dwivedi took initiative to control the situation. Pushpendra Dwivedi formed team in 15 villages and took them on alert mode. Local villagers have been asked to stay alert and immediately inform about fire in their areas. The team members worked for several hours to douse the fire. The team put out fire of these two km of area. Environmentalists and local activists also raised alarm over possible damage to tigers and other endangered species within protected areas. Forest officials believe that it could be local villagers who set fire in their field to settle the crops and Mahua collection. Local villagers said that forest team delayed to take action and their staffs is too small to blaze the fire. Fire incidents in forest areas of Madhya Pradesh are very common during summer.