Mount Abu forest fire continues to rage on fourth day

The wildfire that affected Mount Abu continued to blaze at scattered places in the region on the fourth day on Monday. The sole hill station of Rajasthan, frequented by scores of tourists, had witnessed the massive fire which broke out on April 14 morning close to famous sunset point and honeymoon point on Mount Abu in the Aravali hills prompting the district administration to seek IAF's assistance.

The flames spread near inhabited areas on Sunday due to winds but the IAF helicopters in the air and the Army troops, police and forest department personnel prevented them and controlled the fire.

"Today, the fire is under control yet it is raging at scattered places and can be controlled by the fire fighters on the ground therefore the helicopters did not take off for the operation today, Circle Officer Abu Parvat Vijay Pal Singh told PTI.

He said that the situation is likely to be controlled fully on Monday. Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said the IAF helicopters are on stand by to take up any mission, if called for.

When the situation will be fully under control, the helicopters will fly for their respective units- Phalodi(Jodhpur) and Jamnagar (Gujarat).

"The fire is still raging in some areas though it isunder control. The fire spread near to inhabited areas yesterday due to winds but it was controlled," SHO of Mount Abu, Bhupendra Singh said.

He said the fire was in the forest area of the hills. The two MI-17 VS helicopters have flown and sprayed close to four lakh liters of water at various locations to douse the flames since Friday.

The IAF crash fire tenders are also fighting fire at various locations on the ground. The Army was also roped in on Sunday to provide assistance in critical areas of Chipa Beri and Sat Ghum along Mount Abu road for combating the fire.

"Apart from the IAF helicopters, two well equipped columns comprising of over 100 army personnel from the Konark Corps braved the intense smoke and fire at Sunset Point, ChipaBeri, Saat Ghum View point yesterday," the defence spokesperson said.