Thanks to Air Force and forest dept, forest blaze put out after week-long efforts; 200 hectares lost

Efforts by the Indian Air Force and the Forest Department ground staff attained fruition during the late hours of Tuesday, as a week-long forest blaze was extinguished in the Madukkarai region in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. According to the state's forest minister, the week-long blaze had claimed nearly 200 hectares of bamboo and dry grass.

Supriya Sahu, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment Climate Change and Forests, Govt of Tamil Nadu thanked and acknowledged the contributions of the Forest department teams, the Indian Air Force and the local villagers, anti-poaching watchers etc.

When efforts by ground teams comprising more than 200 personnel were not providing the desired results, the Indian Air Force was roped in to perform aerial firefighting operations, over the weekend. In multiple sorties, the Air Force's Russian-origin Mi-17 multi-role helicopter had performed 'bambi bucket operations'. This is a process where the chopper carries an underslung bucket and dunks it in a waterbody(preferably closest to the fire site) and then dispenses the water over the blaze.

The IAF chopper had dispensed over 22,000 litres of water and had ensured that the fire was extinguished in two major zones and finally restricted to a limited patch. On Monday and Tuesday, additional ground teams were tasked by the Forest department to carry out the efforts on the ground. Efforts were carried out during the day and night to ensure that the blaze is brought under control.

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