While the four choppers were able to put out most of the fire by sprinkling water, brought from the Gambheeram reservoir, from the skies in two spells, a large number of personnel from the fire and forest departments along with Greyhounds split into 10 teams and trekked up the hill with fire beaters to put out the smaller fires.
The fire fighting operation, which started at around 2 pm after an aerial survey to determine the extent of the fire and a GPS survey to ascertain the height and width of the hills, saw IAF choppers do several sorties in the first spell that lasted nearly one and half hour. After a one-hour halt, all the four choppers were once again pressed into service for another 60 minutes and were eventually successful in controlling the blaze.
Joint collector and in-charge Visakhapatnam district collector Praveen Kumar told TOI that the fire was doused completely on Friday afternoon and personnel of the fire, forest and police departments have been stationed along with fire tenders and necessary machinery at eight villages on the foot hills of Gudilova as a precautionary measure. The authorities have kept on standby a six-member team along with one fire tender at each village in the vicinity of the hill.
"We have kept the choppers on standby in the city for an aerial inspection of the hills on Saturday morning. The choppers will do sorties over the hills and, if necessary, swing into action," the joint collector said.
According to sources, the fire started from behind the Sri Narayaneswara Ranganatha Swamy temple on Thursday and spread to a nearly three-km stretch on the Kambalakonda reserve spread over 7,500 hectares, of which the Gudilova Hills is a part. Around 200 personnel from the forest and fire departments of the north coastal districts have been camped at the foothills of Gudilova hills since Thursday evening.
According to district fire officer Jnana Sundaram, around eight fire tenders and two mist bikes had been kept ready in case of any further fire outbreak on the hills. "Trees have not been damaged or gutted in the fire, which only razed the leaves and dried branches of trees that were uprooted by the cyclone. Luckily the stems of the trees were wet and no major damage was reported," Jnana Sundaram said. State ministers Ch Ayyanna Patrudu and Ganta Srinivasa Rao along with Visakha East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu rushed to the spot on Friday morning and interacted with rescue teams and officials.
http://ift.tt/1tzFcuL choppers,Gudilova hills,Gudilova fire,Anandapuram mandal
Stay updated on the go with The Times of India’s mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.
No comments:
Post a Comment