Fire again in Sundarbans

Yet another fire broke out in Chandpai range of the Sundarbans in Sharankhola upazila of the district yesterday morning.

This was the third incident of fire in the area in the last three weeks.

Firefighters and forest guards, with the help of villagers, doused the flames after nearly four hours. 

The forest department claimed the incident was an act of sabotage. It formed a committee to probe the incident and set up five watch teams to avoid such incidents happening again.

“Forest guards first noticed the fire near the Nangli forest office around 9:30am. Two fire engines from Morelganj and Bagerhat were engaged in dousing the fire,” said Saidul Islam, divisional forest officer of Sundarbans (east zone).

Earlier, fire also broke out on March 27 and April 13 at Nangli, Abdullar Chila, Pochakuralia and Napitkhali areas that destroyed forest on nearly 10 acres of land.

Zahir Uddin, conservator of forest in the Sundarbans, said they formed a three-member probe committee led by Belayet Hossain, assistant conservator of forest. The committee will submit its report within seven working days.

Five fire watch teams will be patrolling some strategic points in the forest, he added.

Asked why the forest department suspected yesterday's incident to be an act of sabotage, DFO Saidul said as they filed a case against six locals in connection with the April 13 fire incident, some aggrieved people might have been out for revenge. 

The fire on April 13 engulfed trees on around 8.5 acres in Chandpai range of the mangrove forest.

Although there had been at least 20 fire incidents along the Mora Bhola river in East Sundarbans over the last 16 years, this was the first time the forest department filed a case with a local court against some people, said sources in the department.

Earlier, the department had only assessed the damages and tried to find out the causes of fire incidents. Probe reports mentioned that fire might have originated from a cigarette or stove or torch left in the forest by honey collectors. 

Meanwhile, a Bagerhat court on Sunday issued arrest warrants for the six accused.