People against eviction might involve in causing wildfire: Biswajit

Imphal: Some person who are against the eviction work carried by the forest department in the last few months might have been in the present wildfire at hills, said Forest minister Th. Biswajit during the ongoing 3rd session of 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on Thursday.

The minister was responding to the starred question raised by opposition MLA K. Ranjit Singh.

He said according to report issued by North East Space Application Centre (NESAC), Shillong a total reserved forest area of 14,699.04 hectares were affected due to wildfire during the period of 2019 to January 2023.

Around 95 per cent of the wildfire are man-made. However the rate of wildfire has been reduced since 2019 till date. Since 2019 to February 2023, a total of six persons were arrested in connection with man-made wildfire at Reserved Forest Area. Among the arrested person one has been made to pay a fine of Rs 5,500 by chief judicial magistrate, Jiribam and five arrested persons are in trial at court, the minister said.

As instructed by the chief minister of Manipur various preventive measures are taking up to avoid wildfire. Fire service are also kept alert to take necessary steps to avoid wide spread of wildfire if occurred, he added.