Chamarajanagar: With forest officers having little success in containing the fire sweeping the Bandipur National Park for the last few days , two choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) joined the effort at the request of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday.
Arriving at Bandipur at around 10 am, the helicopters did a recce before attempting to douse the fire in areas specified by the forest officials.
Loaded with water from the Nugu reservoir adjoining Bandipur, they poured it from the sky on the fire raging in the G S Betta range and other parts.
The exercise, which began around 2 pm, continued till 4.30 pm and the choppers are expected to resume their fire fighting on Tuesday after refueling.
“The pilots used GPS to track the exact spots that were on fire,” said a senior official. One senior forest official said the department was informed about the Chief Minister’s decision to use the helicopters to douse the Bandipur fire by the Chief Secretary and it willingly cooperated. “We were confident of dousing the fire ourselves but the Chief Minister’s decision is a welcome one as engaging the choppers is proving of immense help in the fighting fire at Bandipur,” he added.
While the fire has been reportedly brought under control in the G S Betta range, forest officials say it will be doused in the Karadibetta range too by Monday night.
The government is being hands-on in other ways too with Minister for Forests and Environment Satish Jarkiholi supervising the fire fighting operation in the Bandipur tiger reserve.
The minister is reportedly satisfied with the forest staff’s handling of the disaster.
