Kohima: The wildfire at western Dzükou valley at Khonoma in Nagaland’s Kohima district that broke out on Friday (December 12) has been contained, officials said on Monday.
There were concerns that the blaze, which broke out in the western range of the valley, would spread further due to windy conditions and the difficult terrain, which was affecting the firefighting operations, they said.
As per reports, the western Dzükou valley, which is a popular site for nature lovers and trekkers, has been closed temporarily as a precautionary measure.
The fire was first spotted by a tourist guide, who alerted the Khonoma village and the district administration, they added.
According to the latest report, smoke was seen emanating from between burnt bushes, but no active flames were seen, officials said.
The smoke is also under control, with Khonoma Youth volunteers, SDRF and Forest Department personnel camping near the site, they said.
IAF helicopters were deployed to contain the fire. The helicopters operated with Bambi buckets to suppress and contain the smoke.
An official said that while the IAF personnel, flown in from West Bengal’s Kharagpur, youth volunteers and SDRF personnel were confident that the fire had been contained, it was decided that a team would trek to the site on Tuesday to verify the ground situation.
Kohima DC B Henok Buchem, along with his team, visited the base camp of the team engaged in combating the fire on Monday. During the visit, Khonoma youth representatives, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and other government agencies briefed the officials on the current situation.
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DC Buchem expressed gratitude to all those involved in containing the blaze.
Earlier in the day, adviser to the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority Z Nyusietho Nyuthe, DC Buchem, and other officials conducted an aerial survey of both the western and southern Dzükou valley areas with a helicopter to assess the overall fire situation.
