Forest Fires: Odisha Govt Cancels Leave Of Field Officials

Bhubaneswar: In the wake of a spurt in incidents of forest fire, the Odisha government on Wednesday cancelled the leave of all field forest officials in all divisions.

According to the official notification, the field officials have already been directed to take all measures to prevent and deal with the forest fires on 24×7 basis and the situation is being monitored and reviewed at the state level on a daily basis.

“In exceptional circumstances where it is considered unavoidable to allow any official to remain on leave prior approval of next authority (not below the rank of DFO) should be obtained and PCCF be kept informed,” it said.

Any deviation from this instruction shall be viewed seriously, it added.

On March 8, the government had constituted a task force led by former PCCF Sandeep Tripathy to review the ongoing forest fire, its causes and recommend immediate containment measures.

Earlier in the day, a nine-member team of Odisha BJP led by the Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had met Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum seeking his urgent intervention for suitable remedial and reparative actions to stop the raging fire in several forest ranges in the state.

Also Read: BJP Delegation Meets Javadekar Over Forest Fire In Odisha; Details Here