The officials on Thursday expressed confidence that the 10-day long wildfire in the famed Dzukou Valley on Nagaland-Manipur border would be fully doused within the next 24 hours.
Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority OSD Johnny Ruangmei said, “The Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), paramilitary forces, state authorities, along with hundreds of volunteers and locals have been able to largely control the wildfire in the Dzukou Valley.”
Ruangmei stated, “The wildfire has been doused in most areas but gusty winds have taken the blaze to newer areas. We expect to fully control the blaze in the next 24 hours. The combined forces would study the exact ground situation on Friday and accordingly operations and the necessary steps would be taken.”
According to the sources, four Mi-17V5 helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets sprayed water to check the wildfire on Thursday.
An Assistant Sub-Inspector of the NDRF deployed to tackle the fire was found dead in his tent on Tuesday in northern Manipur’s Senapati district bordering Nagaland.
According to the officials, the inferno has destroyed much of the forest, seasonal flowers, flora and fauna and harmed the rich biodiversity of the valley, which is also a famous trekking site.