Sources confirmed that on March 27, the local villagers informed the forest officials about a fire breaking out in the Akbarpur range of Sariska at 1 p.m.
However, the officials were busy attending to the VVIP (Anjali Tendulkar, wife of Sachin Tendulkar) who was in Sariska. So the information was not taken seriously. As a result, the fire spread over several kilometers in the forest and went difficult to be controlled.
According to the sources, Ranger Jitendra had informed the officials about the incident over the wireless, but it was not taken seriously. As a result, the fire in a small area spread to about 20 km area of the forest.
Officers, including CCF RN Meena and DFO Sudarshan Sharma, were reportedly engaged in serving Sachin Tendulkar’s wife Anjali Tendulkar, who was on a Sariska tour.
The CCF himself drove Anjali to Sariska for tiger sighting and also made video of hers sighting of two tigers, but the officials remained indifferent to the fire in the forest, as a result of which it engulfed the forest.
Meanwhile, forest officials have denied the allegations of villagers.
Rejecting the allegations, Meena claimed that a team was dispatched to the spot immediately on receiving the information. The allegations of the villagers that the team did not reach the spot due to some VVIP culture are baseless, he added.
However, the local residents affirmed the statement that negligence of officials led to spread of the fire.
The villagers also alleged that the forest department team came several hours after being informed. By then the fire had taken a vast form. Had the Sariska administration acted in time, it would not have spread so much that it would have required the help of the IAF to extinguish it.
Along with the employees of the Forest Department, many villagers are also involved in efforts to extinguish the fire.
Rajasthan’s Principal Secretary, Forest Shreya Guha said that the fire has been confined to a hill on the fourth day. Apart from two helicopters of the Air Force, 400 people are engaged in this operation to extinguish the fire. At one time this fire had spread to an area of 10 km. She said that once the fire is extinguished, the amount of forest land burnt will be calculated after that. But for the time being the priority is to put off the fire.
According to statistics, Sariska is home to 27 tigers.
Meanwhile, SDRF Commandant Pankaj Chaudhary said, two SDRF teams consisting of 25 personnel helped forest personnel to douse the fire.
Speaking to IANS, he said: “We got tankers from DG this time to supply water to the high raise building. However, we used this tanker for the first time to douse off fire. In Rajasthan, it is for the first time such a fire has been reported in jungles. It was quite intense and hence Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. In fact, the SDRF also pitched in to help, he added.
Meanwhile, there were whispers about a senior official being put on awaiting posting order (APO) over his carelessness. Principal secretary Shreya, however, has denied any such order.
–IANS