A fire has broken out in Daser Bharani area of Sarankhola Range of Sundarbans East Forest Division.
The fire broke out at around 1pm on Monday and could not be brought under control till the writing of this report at 6:30pm.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Sarankhola Fire Service and Civil Defence official A Sattar, said: “We received news of a fire in the Sundarbans at noon on Monday. Two firefighting units from Sarankhola and Morrelganj were rushed to the spot and have been trying to douse the fire.
“Another fire-fighting unit from Bagerhat is on its way to the spot. However, the firefighters are finding it difficult to communicate with each other due to a bad mobile network.”
Sources have said that people from the local community are also actively trying to douse the fire.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans East Forest Mohammad Belayet Hossain, said: “A fire broke out in the Das Bharani area of the Sundarbans. Fire service and forest personnel are working to control the fire. A fire line is being formed so that the fire cannot spread further.”
According to the Forest Department, about 75 acres of forest land have been burnt in 25 fire incidents in the last 20 years in the eastern part of the Sundarbans. The damage caused by the fires amount to at least Tk20 lakh.
Meanwhile, locals have claimed that the fire has already spread to large areas of forest. It will not be possible to control the fire very easily as there is no water nearby, they feared.
They alleged that some unscrupulous people often enter the forest illegally to collect honey. They collect honey from beehives by lighting torches. This fire might have started from such activities.
Senior forest officials have already visited the spot of the fire and are providing assistance to the firefighters in putting out the fire as quickly as possible to keep damage to the minimum.
Earlier on February 8, a fire broke out at Dhansagar station in Chadpai range of the Sundarbans.
