Bhubaneswar: The intensity and dimension of the forest fire in Odisha in the last two days have drastically come down, said the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and chief of the special task force Sandip Tripathy on Tuesday.
Briefing mediapersons after a review meeting with Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, he said out of a total of 6258 fire points in the state, the number of points has come down by about 52% to 3258 in two days.
He said the Chief Secretary has directed the Forest department to intensify night patrolling in the forests and engage the panchayat representatives in controlling the forest fire.
Besides, Mahapatra has told the Forest department to engage 100 additional teams with 700 blowers on a war-footing to extinguish the fire at the earliest possible.
Tripathy further said the meeting decided to provide incentive to the people of 3000 villages situated on the forest periphery to encourage them to actively participate in the protection and conservation of the forest.
Also Read: Odisha Govt Forms Task Force To Monitor Forest Fires
