Forest fires in Darjeeling threaten breeding centre for red panda, snow leopards

The forest fire, which started on Thursday morning, was brought under control by the evening with the intervention by the fire operators and officials of the Forest Department, and with the help of local residents.

EOI, DARJEELING, MAY 2, 2024 :  The sudden forest fire at Topkey Dara, near 3rd Mile, around 19 km from Darjeeling, has posed an imminent threat to the breeding center for red panda and snow leopards at Topkey Dara, just one km away. 

The area falls under the Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary and is run by the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP). 

The forest fire, which started on Thursday morning, was brought under control by the evening with the intervention by the fire operators and officials of the Forest Department, and with the help of local residents. 

Ranger Uttam Pradhan of the Darjeeling Wildlife Division Sinchel East Range said: “The fire might have started around 7 a.m. We came to know about the fire only after we got a phone call around 7.20 a.m. when a former forest staff informed us about it, seeing smoke coming out of the area. He had seen the smoke from Mall Road in Darjeeling. 

Acting on the information we went for inspection and found that fire had started from 3rd Mile and was spreading towards the Breeding Centre. Another fire had also started at 6th Mile on the road towards Kalimpong. We had to face a lot of difficulty trying to fight two fires.” 

Pradhan said initially fire extinguishers were utilized to fight the spreading fire with the Fire Department from Darjeeling town also sending one fire tender to help them. 

A fire tender that has been kept as reserve by the fire department in the Dispersion Centre and Receipt Centre (DCRC) set up at Darjeeling Government College (DGC) where strong rooms have been made for the recently concluded polls though could not be utilized. 

“We also requested water tanks that sell water from perennial water sources like Kalikhola close by to this area to help us in supplying water. They helped by bringing water in 10 vehicles,” Pradhan said. Each of the trucks which supply water to Darjeeling town can carry 2000 litres of water at a time. The local police force, staff of the PNHZP and the forest department along with locals from nearby villages located in 3rd Mile, Dabaipani, Naya Basti among other places where the Joint Forest Management Committee also exists pitched in to fight the forest fire. 

Fire lines were also made in places by cutting grass to ensure that the fire did not spread. When asked about how the fire could have started Pradhan stated, “The exact reason for the fire starting is not known but the month of April to May is a very dry season with the jungles also very dry. The few days have also been excessively windy, and a natural fire could have started due to friction caused by the wind and with the forest being dry a small fire can get out of control.” 

Pradhan also said that though more than 80 percent of the fire had been brought under control by the afternoon, the day being windy and with chances of ground fires still burning underneath there, the surface could ignite again. He said that this fire was hard to detect. 

“We will stay on vigil throughout the night and there could be the danger of the fire starting again,” he said while adding that the extent of area damage could not be ascertained right now