Staff Reporter
Like every summer, this year also, a fire broke out in Ambazari Biodiversity Park in about 10 hectares of area, gutting precious trees and grass on Tuesday afternoon. With the start of summer season, fire-related incidents become a common event every year in the Park as it shares boundaries with human settlements and commercial infrastructure from all sides. This time, the Forest Department believes that the fire broke out due to a spark in high-tension line that crosses through the Park. “Human error may be also a reason for this fire as it started near a sewage treatment plant (STP) situated near the Park,” Dr Bharat Singh Hada, Deputy Conservator of Forest told ‘The Hitavada’. “We conduct extensive fire monitoring during summers in the Park. There are 12 watch towers in the Park and every tower has CCTVs to monitor fire or smoke-related incidents,” said Dr Hada. “On Tuesday, one of our staff members noticed smoke emanating from near the STP. He immediately informed the Range Forest Officer (RFO) about the incident.
The fire broke out at around 2.15 pm and within half-an-hour, the fire tenders of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) reached the spot,” said the officer.“The fire was scattered in the grass and bushes and it started spreading fast. It is impossible to stop any forest fire, but we controlled the fire at a particular area to avoid the spread,” said Dr Hada. There were seven fire tenders of NMC at the spot and 50 staff members from the Forest Department were deployed to extinguish the wild fire and it stopped at around 4.30 pm in the evening. The Forest Department is still analysing the total loss that took place due to this fire. “Bushes, grass and some trees were gutted in this fire. During such an incident, the loss of habitat and biodiversity is the biggest challenge for us and to curb such fire, we conduct regular patrolling, spread awareness among nearby residents, restrict the entry of outside items etc,” said Dr Hada.
In 2020, after a short circuit at one of the feeders at Shankar Nagar tower line of MSEDCL, a fire broke out in the Park that gutted grass and dried leaves spread over 9 hectares of land. In January 6, 2020 also, a small fire broke out in the Park in which 2.9 hectares land was gutted. Similarly, in 2021, a major fire broke out at the Park, reducing grass and trees to ashes in 250 hectares area. The fire broke out at the back side of the RTM Nagpur University administrative building. In April 10, 2022, fire gutted 20 hectares of land in the Park. The 756 hectares biodiversity park is maintained by Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC). This park is providing a chance for nature trail to people of Nagpur in the city limits.