Forest personnel in Odisha thank ‘Rain God’ for heavy showers, dance in joy
The ‘providential rainfall’ filled hearts of the forest officials in joy and they could not control their emotions. They were seen singing and dancing to celebrate the occasion.
By Nalini Sahu
Bhubaneswar, March 20 : Forest department personnel engaged in dousing wildfires on Saturday had a great feeling of ‘divine intervention’ to lessen their burden. Struggling for a few days now to douse the rampaging fires at nearly different points in the state, the officials saw the Rain God coming to their help with thunderstorms and moderate rainfall activities.
The ‘providential rainfall’ filled the hearts of the forest officials in joy and they could not control their emotions and were seen singing and dancing to celebrate the occasion.
At Rangamatia under Bangiriposhi range in Mayurbhanj district, the forest officials along with the local residents were seen dancing in ecstasy.
In fact, forest fires had assumed serious proportions at Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district and many other parts in the state and the rain has certainly improved the overall scenario.
Expressing his joy, Samai Soren, a forest official, said, “I am happy that it rained for an hour on Saturday evening. Now there will be no more forest fire incidents for next one month. We were not getting leaves and now we can expect to spend some time with our family members.”
The forest department staff in Umerkote was also seen dancing after it rained in the region. The visuals of the dance by them have also gone viral on social media.
According to the Forest Survey of India, Odisha has reported 4,495 forest fire incidents by Sunday this year.
A prolonged dry spell since October 2022 and accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves across the forests in Odisha has led to large scale forest fires across the state.
Forest fires are not just causing irreparable damage to Odisha’s flora and fauna but also destroying the livelihoods of tribals who depend on minor forest produces (MFPs) such as timber, mahua flowers, kendu leaves, and medicinal plants.
In a letter to the Union forest and environment minister forest and environment minister Bhupender Yadav, Union education minister had on March 13 urged him to order for assessment of the damage to forest land, flora and fauna, as well as communities dependent on forests for their livelihood and take suitable remedial action.
