IAF Called to Douse Coimbatore Forest Fire
Image for Representational Purposes only.Since 11 April, a fire has been raging in the Madhukarai forest range of Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore district. In response, an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17 helicopter was deployed to douse the fire using a Bambi Bucket on 16 April.
The IAF chopper has completed seven sorties, carrying 3,000 liters of water in each trip, and successfully doused 10 hectares of fire. The water was lifted from the Malampuzha dam in Kerala.
On 11 April, the fire was initially detected, and various efforts were made to extinguish it. On Saturday, a recce was conducted, and frontline staff was deployed to put out the fire. The dry grass in the forest area caught fire during the hot summer season and rolled down the hills, spreading the fire. Coimbatore District Collector, Kranthi Kumar Pati, and senior Forest Department officials are overseeing the IAF chopper operation to combat the fire, which threatened the entire forest area of Madhukkarai forest range.