J&K: Massive fire breaks out in Poonch; Army increases vigil to stop infiltration by Pak

A massive fire broke out along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, on Friday. The Indian Army has increased the vigil as such forest fires are usually used by the Pakistani side to facilitate infiltration along the LoC. 

This comes two days after an Army jawan was injured in a landmine blast along the LoC in Poonch. The incident took place in the Krishna Ghati sector and the injured soldier was soon hospitalised. 

Last month, a massive fire that had broken out in the Gangara Hills forest of Jamu and Kashmir's Udhampur has so far destroyed acres of land and vegetation turning it to ashes. As informed by the officials, the fire took place due to the hot weather. In the video shared by ANI on its Twitter handle, a thick layer of smoke can be seen rising from the fire site while people try to control its spread. Speaking on the same, a district-level Indian Forest Service (IFS) official said, "A team has been deployed in the area for controlling the situation. A meeting was held concerning the same. 90% of the fire has been doused. It took place because of the hot weather and people have been made aware of it."

Forest fire in Uttarakhand

In a similar incident from Uttarakhand, a forest fire was reported in the Dhanoda forest area in Pithoragarh in April. As informed by the officials, the fire broke out at night following which a team of forest personnel, tehsildar, revenue sub-inspector, and disaster management reached the site and started making efforts to douse the fire. Later, after two hours, the fire was brought under control.

Speaking on the same, Pithoragarh DM Ashish Kumar Chauhan spoke to ANI and said, "District Forest officials and I had a discussion; our master control room will be started as a disaster management office to counter such frequent instances and to take action."

Image: Republic World, PTI