MARGAO
Panic gripped the residents of Dramapur on late Wednesday when the fire that started the Sarzora hillock spread towards Dramapur hillock.
Dramapur sarpanch Avita Pereira, panchayat members, besides local volunteers along with the fire personnel had all assembled at the foot of the hillock over how to go about the firefighting operation.
Given that there’s no road access to the top of the hillock, the residents sent an SOS to the district authorities to explore the possibility of roping in helicopters to douse the fire since they pointed out that it is next to impossible to bring the fire under control manually.
The team was waiting for the forest officials to reach the site with a blower to start the operations.
Member of the Navelim biodiversity management committee Eleutorio Carneiro informed that the Dramapur hillock was engulfed by a massive fire moments after the firemen and the volunteers had managed to douse the fire at the adjoining Sarzora hillock on Wednesday evening.
Saying that reaching the fire through the dense vegetation to launch the firefighting operation manually would be a tedious task, Carneiro has appealed to the district Collector to explore the possibility of roping in Navy helicopters to Dramapur to bring the fire under control before further damage is caused to the bio-diversity and the rich flora and fauna.
